LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF 
CAUF®RN'A 
SAN  DIEGO 


HD 

Ho. 


N 


S  Y  B  A  RI  S 


AND    OTHER    HOMES. 


BT 


EDWARD    ETHALE. 


BOSTON: 

FIELDS,    OSGOOD,    &    CO. 

1869. 


Entered  according  to  act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1869,  by 

FIELDS,     OSGOOD,     &     CO., 

in  the  Clerk's  OiEce  of  the  District  Court  for  the  District  of  Massachusetts. 


University  Pkess  :   Welch,  Bigelovv,  &  Co., 
Ca.mcridce. 


DEDICATION. 


I  DEDICATE  this  book  to  the 

SUFFOLK   UNION    FOE    CHEISTIAN    WOKK. 

At  the  meeting  which  formed  that  Society  the  provision  for  better 

homes  in  cities  was  publicly  declared  to  be  the  first  work  of  Ciu'istiaa 

reform.     At  every  meeting  since  some  person  has  enforced  the  same 

necessity. 

EDWARD    E.   HALE. 

South  Congregational  Church,  Bostok, 
September  18, 1869. 


PREFACE. 

The  reader  will  see  that  the  papers  in  this  book 
have  a  single  object,  whether  cast  in  the  form  of  fic- 
tion, or  whether  statistical  narratives  of  fact.  If  1 
should  classify  them  as  the  papers  were  classified  in 
an  earlier  volume  of  this  little  series,  the  account  of 
Naguadavick  is  the  account  of  what  ought  to  be :  the 
account  of  Vineland  is  the  account  of  what  is;  and 
the  account  of  Boston  is  the  account  of  what  ought 
not  to  be.  In  the  narrative  of  Sybaris  the  reader 
will  find  something  of  "  if,"  something  of  "  yes,"  some- 
thing of  "  perhaps  "  ;  some  possibility,  much  fact,  and 
some  exago-eration. 

I  have,  perhaps,  a  right  to  explain  the  earnestness 
with  which  I  try  to  enforce  the  necessity  of  better 
homes  for  laboring  men  by  stating  a  single  circum- 
stance in  my  own  history.  For  nearly  twenty-five 
years  I  have  been  constantly  engaged  in  the  Chris- 
tian ministry.  About  half  that  time  was  spent  in 
Worcester,  Massachusetts  ;  about  half  of  it  in  Bos- 
ton. When  I  went  to  Worcester  it  was  a  town  cf 
about  eight  thousand  people  ;  when  I  left  it,  it  had 
three  times  that  number.     Boston  is  a  crowded  town 


VI  PEEFACE. 

of  a  quarter-million  inhabitants.  It  is  impossible  for 
me  not  to  notice,  in  every  hour  of  my  life,  the  contrast 
between  the  homes  of  the  working  people  in  these 
two  places.  I  might  almost  say  that  there  is  no  other 
diil'erence  of  importance  between  the  social  opportu- 
nities of  the  two  places.  They  are  not  far  apart ; 
both  are  active  places  of  business,  employing  in  about 
equal  proportions  people  of  enterprise  and  energy,  in 
the  varied  work  of  manufacture,  commerce,  and  trans- 
portation. But  in  one  of  these  places  almost  every 
man  can  own  his  house,  and  half  the  men  do.  In  the 
other  hardly  any  man  can  own  his  house,  and  half 
the  people  are  crowded  into  quarters  where  no  man 
should  be  compelled  to  live. 

To  watch  over  and  improve  the  charities  of  any 
town  is  the  special  duty  of  the  Christian  ministry  in 
it,  —  to  feed  its  hungry  and  clothe  its  naked,  to  open 
the  eyes  of  its  blind  and  the  ears  of  its  deaf,  to 
make  its  lame  walk,  to  cleanse  its  lepers,  and  to 
preach  good  tidings  to  its  poor.  Will  the  reader  im- 
agine to  himself  the  position  of  the  man  engaged  in 
that  duty,  when  he  finds  his  sick  in  such  tenements  as 
they  must  live  in  in  our  present  system,  —  his  blind, 
for  instance,  born  so,  perhaps,  in  rooms  with  no  win- 
dow, and  all  his  poor  in  such  homes  that  the  only  truly 
good  tidings  are  tidings  which  send  them  away  from 
him  ?  Where  a  considerable  part  of  the  people  live  in 
such  homes  our  best  devised  charities,  either  for  moral 
culture  or  physical  relief,  work  at  terrible  odds.     Your 


PREFACE.  vii 

City  Missions,  your  Ministry  at  Large,  your  Industrial 
Aid  Society,  or  your  Overseers  of  the  Poor  are  all 
working  against  the  steady  dead  weight  which,  as  we 
all  know,  presses  down  and  holds  down  the  man  who 
is  in  an  unhealthy  or  unhappy  home. 

The  contrast  in  my  own  life  between  life  in  a  small 
raanufacturino;  and  commercial  town  and  life  in  a  larire 
one  makes  me  feel  the  bitterness  of  these  odds  the 
more.  I  am  sure  that  the  suffering  thus  involved  is 
unnecessary,  as  I  am  sure  the  labor  which  tries  to  re- 
lieve its  symptoms  must  be  in  large  measure  thrown 
away.  With  an  intense  personal  interest,  therefore, 
have  I  attempted  to  show  in  this  book  how  these  evils 
may  be  remedied. 

I  do  not  know  buc  Colonel  Ingham's  suggestions  as 
to  his  imagined  Sybaris  may  be  thought  too  roseate 
and  ideal  for  our  Western  longitudes.  They  have 
been  already  published  in  the  Atlantic  Monthly,  and, 
in  his  absence  in  Siberia,  I  have  been  once  and  again 
favored  with  criticisms  upon  them.  It  is  but  fair  to 
liim  to  say,  that,  so  far  as  the  paper  refers  to  ancient 
Sybaris  or  Thurii,  it  is  a  very  careful  study  of  the  best 
authorities  regarding  that  interesting  state,  —  a  study 
which  I  wish  might  be  pushed  further  by  somebody. 
And  I  incorporate  the  paper  in  this  volume  because 
it  seems  to  me  that  we  have  a  sreat  deal  to  learn  from 
the  ancient  cities  and  from  their  methods  of  govern- 
ment, were  it  only  the  great  lesson  of  the  value  of 
trainino;  in  administration. 


Vm  PREFACE. 

There  is  a  very  odd  habit  of  speech  about  republi- 
can government,  which,  hke  most  careless  habits  of 
speech,  hurts  our  practice.  When  the  theory  of  a 
republic  is  discussed,  everybody  says  that  it  worked 
admirably  in  cities  of  compact  territory,  but  that  it 
failed  when  it  had  to  be  extended  over  wider  regions. 
This  is  really  a  commonplace  in  the  old-fashioned 
sturdy  books  on  political  institutions.  But  when  you 
come  to  talk  politics  with  practical  people  to-day,  the 
chances  are  nine  in  ten  that  they  say,  "  Ah,  republi- 
can institutions  are  admirable  for  the  country  at  large  ; 
they  work  perfectly  for  a  scattered  population ;  but 
when  you  come  to  compact  cities  you  want  something 
very  different.  Must  have  one  head  there,  one  head 
there,"  &c.,  &c.,  &c.  Now  certainly  this  is  very  odd, 
that  just  as  we  have  all  learned  to  repeat  one  of  these 
lessons  from  old  Greek  and  Roman  history,  illustrated 
in  the  history  of  Greek  and  Roman  colonies,  we 
should  all  have  to  turn  round  and  say  exactly  the 
other  thing.  Is  it  not  probable  that  there  is  some 
misunderstanding  ? 

I  believe  that  a  careful  study  of  the  history  of  the 
Greek  and  Roman  cities  shows  that  their  success  is 
largely  due  to  their  attention  to  the  science  of  admin- 
istration. The  men  who  discharged  specific  functions 
were  trained  to  those  functions,  and  knew  how  to  dis- 
charge them.  In  the  Roman  cities  no  man  could  be 
a  candidate  for  the  higher  grades  of  service,  unless  he 
had  served  so  manv  years  in  the  lower.     Any  old  Ro- 


PREFACE.  IX 

man,  asked  to  vote  in  our  city  elections,  would  take  it 
for  granted  that  no  man  could  be  an  alderman  who 
liad  not  been  a  common-council-man  for  a  certain 
number  of  years,  nor  a  mayor  unless  he  had  been 
an  alderman  for  a  certain  number.  In  Athens  they 
were  even  more  careful,  and  all  officers  were  as  dis- 
tinctly trained  to  their  duties  as  with  us  civil  engi- 
neers are  or  architects.  What  followed  was,  that 
when  the  right  man  got  into  place,  there  was  a  rea- 
sonable probability  that  he  stayed  in. 

In  our  elective  city  governments,  on  the  other  hand, 
with  a  great  deal  of  good  feeling  and  a  great  deal  of 
public  spirit,  we  find  uncertainty,  hurry  sometimes,  and 
delay  in  others,  frequent  changes  in  system,  shyness 
about  responsibility,  and,  in  consequence,  a  great  deal 
of  discomfort  and  grumbling.  I  once  asked  a  very 
able  and  pure  man,  then  Mayor  of  Boston,  why 
the  city  did  not  undertake  a  certain  policy,  which 
seemed  important.  "  How  should  I  know  ? "  said 
he,  with  a  sigh.  "  I  was  chosen  to  this  place  eight 
months  ago,  with  no  experience  in  city  affairs.  If 
I  am  chosen  again  in  December,  I  may  have  heart 
to  start  on  some  such  proposal  as  you  name.  But 
really,  the  first  year  of  a  man's  service  as  Mayor 
must  be  given  to  learning  where  he  stands."  This 
is  perfectly  true. 

Now,  at  the  end  of  the  Brst  year  who  determines 
whether  such  a  man  shall  or  shall  not  go  on  ?  Almost 
always,  five  hundred  men,  united,  can  settle  that  thing 


X  PREFACE. 

one  way  or  another.  If  he  have  wounded  the  feelings 
of  the  policemen,  —  if  he  have  made  a  change  in  the 
management  of  the  fire  companies,  —  if  in  any  way 
he  have  crossed  the  track  of  any  compact  organization, 
he  is  put  out  and  some  other  new  man  is  put  in,  for 
his  apprenticeship.  I  do  not  helieve  that  this  system 
of  neophyte  mayors  is  necessary.  And  I  believe  that 
whenever  the  public  is  roused  to  study  it,  it  will  be 
changed. 

It  does  not  make  so  much  difference  in  Boston, 
however,  because  the  Mayor  has  no  great  power,  after 
all.  He  is  not  much  more  than  a  chairman  of  select- 
men. The  same  difficulty,  as  it  seems  to  me,  comes  in 
in  the  choice  of  the  aldermen,  who  have,  collectively, 
some  power.  I  read  a  great  deal  of  insulting  language 
and  bitter  sneering  about  aldermen.  I  suppose  there 
are  bad  aldermen,  as  I  know  there  are  bad  ministers, 
bad  painters,  and  bad  bootmakers.  But,  in  my  expe- 
rience, the  aldermen  with  whom  I  have  had  to  confer 
on  the  affairs  of  the  city  have  been  hard-working, 
upright,  intelligent,  public-spirited  men,  doing  a  great 
deal  of  w^ork,  for  which  they  got  no  pay  and  no  thanks  ; 
and  doing  it,  under  our  lumbering  system,  very  well. 
But  they  were  all  doing  it  by  instinct,  and  not  after 
training.  They  had  happened  upon  the  situation 
which  made  them  a  directory  of  twelve,  governing,  in 
nice  details  of  administration,  a  city  of  a  quarter-mil- 
lion people.  They  had  never  been  trained  in  advance 
to  do  that  duty.     And,  by  the  time  they  had  learned 


PREFACE.  XI 

it,  in  presence  of  the  enemj,  they  were  heartily  sick 
of  it,  and  were  glad  to  resign. 

It  seems  to  me,  that  as  long  as  we  govern  cities  in 
that  way,  we  shall  have  bad  horse-cars,  bad  tenement- 
houses,  bad  streets,  bad  theatres,  bad  liquor-shops,  and 
a  great  many  other  bad  things,  which,  in  a  city  where 
administration  was  a  science,  and  i]o  man  chosen  to 
office  until  he  had  been  trained  to  it.  Colonel  Ingham 
did  not  find  in  Sybaris. 

I  observe  that  the  newspapers  are  a  good  deal  exer- 
cised when  a  committee  of  the  city  government,  or 
when  any  city  officers,  go  to  study  the  systems  of  some 
other  cities.  For  my  part,  I  wish  they  went  a  great 
deal  oftener  than  they  do,  and  studied  such  systems  a 
great  deal  more.  I  belike  the  city  of  Boston  could 
make  no  wiser  expenditure  than  it  would  make  in 
sending  to  Europe,  once  in  five  years,  an  intelligent 
officer  from  each  great  department  to  study  French, 
English,  German,  Italian,  and  Russian  administration 
of  streets  ;  of  hackney-coaches,  omnibuses,  and  railroad 
stations :  of  prisons,  of  the  detective  and  general 
police ;  of  health ;  of  markets,  and  of  education. 
There  is  hardly  a  large  city  in  the  civilized  world 
which  has  not  some  hints  of  value  which  it  could  give 
to  every  other  city. 

Colonel  Ingham  has  received  many  protests  against 
the  arbitrary  and  unprincipled  action  of  the  govern- 
ment of  Sybaris  in  compelling  marriage  among  its  peo- 
ple.    He   had   already   made  his   own  protest,  as  he 


Xll  PREFACE. 

could,  in  his  journal.  Nor  would  he  wish  to  be  un- 
derstood as  desiring  to  enforce  anywhere  statutes  so 
tyrannical.  But,  as  I  understand  him,  he  is  con- 
vinced, by  what  he  has  seen  in  Sybaris  and  in  the 
rest  of  the  world,  that  every  artificial  obstacle  to  mar- 
riage is  so  much  multiplication  of  all  other  evil  in 
the  world,  and  whether  that  obstacle  come  in  the 
form  of  fashion,  of  custom,  of  sentiment,  of  gossip, 
of  pohtical  economy,  or  of  law,  it  is  to  be  deprecated 
and  set  aside. 

I  may  add  that  I  do  not  know  why  such  views  have 
not  a  larger  place  than  they  have  in  the  current  dis- 
cussions of  female  suffrage.  The  married  woman 
and  the  married  man  being  one,  she  now  has  suffrage. 
How  would  it  answer  to  withdraw  suffrage  from  the 
unmarried  men  ?  This  would  put  them  on  an  equality 
"with  the  unmarried  women  ;  and  there  would  be  a 
possibility,  if  they  are  troubled  by  the  loss,  of  their 
regaining  the  privilege. 

But  I  will  not,  in  a  preface,  discuss  the  details  of 
any  of  the  experiments  in  city  administration  here 
suggested.  My  chief  wish  is  accomplished,  if  I  can 
call  attention  to  the  delicacy  and  difficulty  of  these 
questions,  and  to  the  necessity  of  studying  them  with 
scientific  and  conscientious  precision.  When  our  best 
men  study  the  details  of  local  administration  with  the 
care  with  which  Themistocles,  Aristides,  and  Pericles 
studied  them  in  Athens,  —  with  which  Metelhis,  the 
Catos,    Pompey   the   Great,  and  Julius   Csesar   were 


PREFACE.  xiil 

willing  to  study  tliem  in  Rome,  —  we  shall  find,  as  I 
believe,  no  difficulty  in  the  republican  government  of 
cities. 

The  shorter  essays  in  this  book  are  devoted  to  the 
tiingle  subject  of  the  homes  of  laborers  at  work  in  large 
cities,  and,  as  I  trust,  require  no  further  explanation. 


As  the  last  sheets  of  this  book  leave  my  hands,  the 
watchful  kindness  of  a  friend  enables  me  to  add  the 
last  word  regarding  Sybaris. 

Under  the  title  "  De  Paris  a  Sybaris,"  (Paris :  A. 
Lemerre,  1868,')  M.  Leon  Palustre  de  Montifaut  pub- 
lishes his  studies  of  art  and  literature  in  Rome  and 
Southern  Italy.  And  here  is  his  record  of  what  he 
saw  of  Sybaris.  He  speaks  first  of  Cassano,  the  last 
Italian  town  which  looks  down  upon  the  valley  of 
ancient  Sybaris. 

"  Cassano,  with  its  beautiful  gardens,  its  tranquil 
aspect,  and  its  gray  mountauis,  reminds  one  of  the 
ancient  Sichem.  It  has  its  freshness  and  its  poetry,  if 
it  has  not  the  same  reminiscences. 

"  Still,  I  hastened  my  departure,  for  I  was  eager  to 
cross  before  night  those  broad  and  marshy  expanses 
over  which  the  eye  travelled  without  an  obstacle,  —  a 
vast  semicircle  cut  into  the  thickness  of  the  Apennine, 
or  fertile  intervals  left  by  the  sea. 

*'  And  what  was  I  going  to  see  ?  Not  so  much  as  a 
ruin,  —  an  uncertain  region  over  which  lay  loose  the 


XIV  PREFACE. 

voluptuous  name  of  Sybaris.  And  I  bad  made  a  long 
journey.  I  had  undergone  incredible  fatigue  to  give 
myself  this  empty  satisfaction.  How  the  inhabitants 
of  this  easy  city  would  have  laughed  at  me  !  They 
could  not  understand,  says  Athenaeus,  why  one  should 
quit  his  country.  For  themselves  they  gloried  in 
growing  old  where  they  first  saw  the  light.  Yet  this 
people  practised  the  broadest  hospitality,  and,  contrary 
to  the  policy  of  most  of  the  Greek  states,  they  read- 
ily admitted  the  colonists  of  other  nations  to  the  rank 
of  citizens.  May  not  this  liberal  spirit  and  the  aston- 
ishing fertility  of  the  soil  explain  the  prosperity  of  this 
prosperous  town,  which  is  so  strangely  kept  in  obscurity 
by  all  antiquity  ?  Varro  tells  us  that  wheat  produced 
a  hundred-fold  on  the  whole  territory  of  Sybaris.  At 
the  present  time  the  uplands  produce  the  richest  har- 
vests." 

And  this,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  is  the  only  contribution 
to  the  history  or  topography  of  Sybaris  made  since  the 
date  of  Mr.  Ingham's  voyage.  Mons.  Montifaut,  alas 
like  all  the  others  !  hurried  across  the  upland  six  miles 
back  from  the  sea.  It  is  as  if  a  traveller  from  Prov- 
idence, coming  up  to  Readville,  should  cross  to  Water- 
town  and  Waltham,  and  then,  going  through  the  Notch 
of  the  White  Mountains  to  Montreal,  should  publish 
his  observations  on  Boston. 

And  these  notes,  alas,  as  late  as  1867,  are  dated  like 
Colonel  Ingham's,  on  the  1st  of  April ! 


CONTENTS. 


Paqb 

My  Visit  to  Stbaris 1 

How   THEY   LIVED   AT   NaGUADAVICK         ....  88 

How    THEY    LIVE    IN    VdJELAND 122 

how  they  live  in  boston,  and  how  they  die  there  155 

Homes  for  Boston  Laborers 178 

Appendix 193 


MY  VISIT  TO   SYBARIS. 

FROM    REV.    FREDERIC   INGHAM's    PAPERS. 

It  is  a  great  while  since  I  first  took  an  interest  in 
Sybaris.  Sybarites  have  a  bad  name.  But  before  I 
had  heard  of  them  anywhere  else,  I  had  painfully 
looked  out  the  words  in  the  three  or  four  precious 
anecdotes  about  Sybaris  in  the  old  Greek  Reader; 
and  I  had  made  up  my  boy's  mind  about  the  Sybarites. 
When  I  came  to  know  the  name  they  had  got  else- 
where, I  could  not  but  say  that  the  world  had  been 
very  unjust  to  them ! 

O  dear !  I  can  see  it  now,  —  the  old  Latin  school- 
room, where  we  used  to  sit,  and  hammer  over  that 
Greek,  after  the  small  boys  had  gone.  They  went  at 
eleven  ;  we  —  because  we  were  twelve  or  more  — 
stayed  till  twelve.  From  eleven  to  twelve  we  sat, 
with  only  those  small  boys  who  had  been  "  kept"  for 
their  sins,  and  Mr.  Dillaway.  The  room  was  long 
and  narrow  ;  how  long  and  how  narrow  you  may  see, 
if  you  will  go  and  examine  M.  Duchesne's  model  of 
"  Boston  as  it  was,"  and  pay  twenty-five  cents  to  the 
Richmond  schools.  For  all  this  is  of  the  past ;  and  in 
the  same  spot  in  space  where  once  a  month  the  Exam- 

l  A 


2  SYBARIS   AND   OTHER   HOMES. 

iner  Club  now  meets  at  Parker's,  and  discusses  the 
diiFerence  between  religion  and  superstition,  the  folly 
of  copyright,  and  the  origin 'of  things,  the  boys  who 
did  not  then  beloHg  to  the  Examiner  Club,  say  Fox 
and  Clarke  and  Furness  and  Waldo  Emerson,  thumbed 
their  Grasca  Minora  or  their  Greek  Readers  in  "  Bos- 
ton as  it  was,"  and  learned  the  truth  about  Sybaris ! 
A  long,  narrow  room,  I  say,  whose  walls,  when  I 
knew  them  first,  were  of  that  tawny  orange  wash 
which  is  appropriated  to  kitchens.  But,  by  a  master 
stroke  of  Mr.  Dillaway's,  these  walls  were  made  lilac 
or  purple  one  summer  vacation.  We  sat,  to  recite,  on 
long  settees,  pea-green  in  color,  which  would  teeter 
slightly  on  the  well-worn  floor.  There,  for  an  hour 
daily,  while  brighter  boys  than  I  recited,  I  sat  an  hour 
musing,  looking  at  the  immense  Jacobs's  Greek  Read- 
er, and  waiting  my  turn  to  come.  If  you  did  not  look 
off  your  book  much,  no  harm  came  to  you.  So,  in  the 
hour,  you  got  fifty-three  minutes  and  a  few  odd  sec- 
onds of  day-dream,  for  six  minutes  and  two  thirds  of 
reciting,  unless,  which  was  unusual,  some  fellow  above 
you  broke  down,  and  a  question,  passed  along  of  a  sud- 
den, recalled  you  to  modern  life.  I  have  been  sitting 
on  that  old  green  settee,  and  at  the  same  time  ridino- 
on  horseback  in  Virginia,  through  an  open  wooded 
country,  with  one  of  Lord  Fairfax's  grandsons  and  two 
pretty  cousins  of  his,  and  a  fallow  deer  has  just  ap- 
peared in  the  distance,  when,  by  the  failure  of  Hutch- 
inson or  Wheeler,  just  above  me,  poor  Mr.  Dillaway 


MY    VISIT    TO   SYBARIS.  3 

has  had  to  ask  me,  "  Ingliam,  what  verbs  omit  the  re- 
dupHcation  ?  "  Talk  of  war !  Where  is  versatiUtj, 
otherwise  called  presence  of  mind,  so  needed  as  in 
recitation  at  a  public  school  ? 

Well,  there,  I  say,  I  made  acquaintance  with  Syba- 
ris.  Nay,  strictly  speaking,  my  first  visits  to  Sybaris 
were  made  there  and  then.  What  the  Greek  Reader 
tells  of  Sybaris  is  in  three  or  four  anecdotes,  woven 
into  that  strange,  incoherent  patchwork  of  "  Geogra- 
phy." In  that  place  are  patched  together  a  statement 
of  Strabo  and  one  of  Athenasus  about  two  things  in 
Sybaris  which  may  have  belonged  some  eight  hundred 
years  apart.  But  what  of  that  to  a  school-boy !  Will 
your  descendants,  dear  reader,  in  the  year  3579  a.  d., 
be  much  troubled,  if,  in  the  English  Reader  of  their 
day,  Queen  Victoria  shall  be  made  to  drink  Spartan 
black  broth  Avith  William  the  Conqueror  out  of  a 
conch-shell  in  New  Zealand  ? 

With  regard  to  Sybaris,  then,  the  old  Jacobs's  Greek 
Reader  tells  the  following  stories :  "  The  Sybarites 
were  distinguished  for  luxury.  They  did  not  permit 
the  trades  which  made  a  loud  noise,  such  as  those  of 
brass-workers,  carpenters,  and  the  like,  to  be  carried 
on  in  the  heart  of  the  city,  so  that  their  sleep  might  be 

wholly  undisturbed  by  noise And  a  Sybarite 

who  had  gone  to  La-cedaemon,  and  had  been  invited  to 
the  public  meal,  after  he  had  sat  on  their  wooden 
benches  and  partaken  of  their  fare,  said  that  he  had 
been  astonished  at  the  fearlessness  of  the  Lacedtemo- 


4  SYBARIS   AND   OTHER   HOMES. 

nians  when  he  knew  it  only  by  report ;  but  now  that 
he  had  seen  them,  he  thought  that  theyxlid  not  excel 
other  men,  for  he  thought  that  any  brave  man  had 
much  rather  die  than  be  obliged  to  live  such  a  life  as 
they  did."  Then  there  is  another  story,  among  the 
*'  miscellaneous  anecdotes,"  of  a  Sybarite  who  was 
asked  if  he  had  slept  well.  He  said.  No,  that  he  be- 
lieved he  had  a  crumpled  rose-leaf  under  him  in  the 
night.  And  there  is  yet  another,  of  one  of  them  who 
said  that  it  made  his  back  ache  to  see  another  man 
digging. 

I  have  asked  Polly,  as  I  write,  to  look  in  Mark 
Lemon's  Jest-Book  for  these  stories.  They  are  not  in 
the  index  there.  But  I  dare  say  they  are  in  Cotton 
Mather  and  Jeremy  Taylor.  Any  way,  they  are  bits 
of  very  cheap  Greek.  Now  it  is  on  such  stories  that 
the  reputation  of  the  Sybarites  in  modern  times  ap- 
pears to  depend. 

Now  look  at  them.  This  Sybarite  at  Sparta  said, 
that  in  war  death  was  often  easier  than  the  hardships 
of  life.  Well,  is  not  that  true  ?  Have  not  thousands 
of  brave  men  said  it  ?  When  the  English  and  French 
got  themselves  established  on  the  wrong  side  of  Sebas- 
topol,  what  did  that  engineer  officer  of  the  French  say 
to  somebody  who  came  to  inspect  his  works  ?  He  was 
talking  of  St.  Arnaud,  their  first  commander.  "  Cun- 
ning dog,"  said  he,  "he  went  and  died."  Death  was 
easier  than  life.  But  nobody  ever  said  he  was  a  cow- 
ard or  effeminate  because  he  said  this.     Why,  if  our 


MY   VISIT   TO   SYBARIS.  5 

purpose  would  permit  an  excursus  of  two  hundred 
pages  liere,  on  this  tlieme,  we  would  defer  Sybaris  to 
the  1st  of  April,  1870,  wliile  we  iUustrated  the  Syba- 
rite's manly  epigram,  which  these  stupid  Spartans 
could  only  gape  at,  but  could  not  understand. 

Then  take  the  rose-leaf  story.  Suppose  by  good 
luck  you  were  breakfasting  with  General  Grant,  or 
Pelissier,  or  the  Duke  of  Wellington.  Suppose  you 
said,  "I  hope  you  slept  well,"  and  the  great  soldier 
said,  "  No,  I  did  not ;  I  think  a  rose-leaf  must  have 
stood  up  edgewise  under  me."  Would  you  go  oflP  and 
say  in  your  book  of  travels  that  the  Americans,  or  the 
French,  or  the  English  are  all  effeminate  pleasure- 
seekers,  because  one  of  them  made  this  nice  little  joke  ? 
Would  you  like  to  have  the  name  "  American  "  go 
down  to  all  time,  defined  as  Webster  *  defines  Sybarite  ? 

A-mer'i-can,  n.  [Fr.  Am€ncain,  Lat.  Americanus,  from  Lat.  America, 
a  continent  noted  for  the  effeminacy  and  voluptuousness  of  its  in- 
habitants.]    A  person  devoted  to  luxury  and  pleasure. 

Should  you  think  that  was  quite  fair  for  your  great- 
grandson's  grandson's  descendant  in  the  twenty-sev- 
enth remove  to  read,  who  is  going  to  be  instructed 
about  Queen  Victoria  and  William  the  Conqueror  ? 

Worst  of  all,  and  most  frequently  quoted,  is  the 
story  of  the  coppersmiths.  The  Sybarites,  it  is  said, 
ordered  that  the  coppersmiths  and  brass-founders  should 
all  reside  in  one  part  of  the  city,  and  bang  their  re- 

*  I  am  writing  in  Westerly's  snuggery,  and  in  Providence  they  be- 
lieve in  Webster's  Dictionary.  I  dare  say  it  is  worse  in  Worcester's. 
A  good  many  things  are. 


6  SYBARIS   AND   OTHER  HOMES. 

spective  metals  where  the  neighbors  had  A'oluntarily 
chosen  to  listen  to  banging.  What  if  they  did  ? 
Does  not  every  manufacturing  city  practically  do  the 
same  thing  ?  What  did  Nicholas  Tillinghast  use  to 
say  to  the  boys  and  girls  at  Bridgewater  ?  "  The  ten- 
dency of  cities  is  to  resolve  themsetves  into  order." 

Is  not  Wall  Street  at  this  hour  a  street  of  bankers  ? 
Is  not  the  Boston  Pearl  Street  a  street  of  leather  men  ? 
Is  not  the  bridge  at  Florence  given  over  to  jewellers  ? 
Was  not  my  valise,  there,  bought  in  Rome  at  the 
street  of  trunk-makers  ?  Do  not  all  booksellers  like 
to  huddle*  together  as  long  as  they  «an  ?  And  when 
Ticknor  and  Fields  move  a  few  inches  from  Washing- 
ton Street  to  Tremont  Street,  do  not  Russell  and 
Bates,  and  Childs  and  Jenks,  and  De  Vries  and  Ibar- 
ra, follow  them  as  soon  as  the  shops  can  be  got  ready  ? 

"  But  it  is  the  motive,"  pipes  up  the  old  gray  ghost 
of  propriety,  who  started  this  abuse  of  the  Sybarites 
in  som§  stupid  Spartan  black-broth  shop  (English  that 
for  ca/e),  two  thousand  two  hundred  and  twenty-two 
years  ago,  —  which  ghost  I  am  now  belaboring,  —  "  it 
is  the  motive.  The  Sybarites  moved  the  brass-found- 
ers, because  they  wanted  to  sleep  after  the  brass-found- 
ers got  up  in  the  morning."  What  if  they  did,  you 
old  rat  in  the  arras  ?  Is  there  any  law,  human  or 
divine,  which  says  that  at  one  and  the  same  hour  all 
men  shall  rise  from  bed  in  this  world  ?  My  excellent 
milkman,  Mr.  Whit,  rises  from  bed  daily  at  two  o'clock. 
If  he  does  not,  my  family,  including  Matthew,  Mark, 


MY    VISIT   TO   SYBARIS.  7 

Luke,  John,  and  Acts,  will  not  havo  their  fresh  milk 
at  7. 87,  at  which  time  we  breakfast  or  pretend  to. 
But  because  he  rises  at  two,  must  we  all  rise  at  two, 
and  sit  wretchedly  whining  on  our  respective  camp- 
stools,  waiting  for  Mr.  Whit  to  arrive  with  the  grate- 
ful beverage  ?  Many  is  the  time,  when  I  have  been 
w'utching  with  a  sick  child  at  five  in  a  summer  morn- 
ing, when  the  little  fellow  had  just  dropped  into  a 
grateful  morning  doze,  that  I  have  listened  and  waited, 
dreading  the  arrival  of  the  Providence  morning  ex- 
press. For  I  knew  that,  a  mile  and  a  half  out  of  Bos- 
ton, the  engine  would  begin  to  blow  its  shrill  whistle, 
for  the  purpose,  I  believe,  of  calling  the  Boston  station- 
men  to  their  duty.  Three  or  four  minutes  of  that 
sJcre-e-e-e  must  there  be,  as  that  train  swept  by  our 
end  of  the  town.  And  hoping  and  wishing  never  did 
any  good  ;  the  train  would  come,  and  the  child  would 
wake.  Is  not  that  a  magnificent  power  for  one  en- 
gine-man to  have  over  the  morning  rest  of  fifty 
thousand  sleeping  people,  because  you,  old  Spartan 
croaker,  who  can't  sleep  easy  underground  it  seems, 
want  to  have  everybody  waked  up  at  the  same  hour 
in  the  morning?  When  I  heat  that  whistle,  and  the 
fifty  other  whistles  of  the  factories  that  have  since  fol- 
lowed its  wayward  and  unlicensed  example,  I  have 
wished  more  than  once  that  we  had  in  Boston  a  little 
more  of  the  firm  government  of  Sybaris. 

For  if,  as  it  would  appear  from  these  instances,  Syb- 
aris werQ  a  city  which  grew  to  w^ealth  and  strength 


8  SYBARIS   AND   OTHER  HOMES. 

by  the  recognition  of  the  personal  riglits  of  each  indi- 
■  vidual  in  the  state,  —  if  Sybaris  were  a  repubhc,  where 
the  individual  was  respected,  had  his  rights,  and  was 
not  left  to  the  average  chances  of  the  majority  of  men, 
—  then  Sybaris  had  found  out  something  which  no 
modern  city  has  found  out,  and  which  it  is  a  pity  we 
liave  all  forgotten. 

I  do  not  say  that  I  went  through  all  this  speculation 
at  the  Latin  school.  I  got  no  further  there  than  to 
see  that  the  Sybarites  had  got  a  very  bad  name,  and 
that  the  causes  did  not  appear  in  the  Greek  Reader. 
I  supposed  there  were  causes  somewhere,  which  it  was 
not  proper  to  put  into  the  Greek  Reader.  Perhaps 
there  were.  But  if  there  were,  I  have  never  found 
them  since,  —  not  being  indeed  very  well  acquainted 
with  the  lines  of  reading  in  which  those  who  wanted 
to  find  tliem  should  look  for  them. 

What  I  did  find  of  Sybaris,  when  I  could  read 
Greek  rather  more  easily,  and  could  get  access  to 
some  decent  atlases,  was  briefly  this. 

Well  forward  in  the  hollow  of  the  arched  foot  of 
the  boot  of  Italy,  two  little  rivers  run  into  the  Gulf 
of  Tarentum.  One  was  once  named  Crathis,  one  was 
named  Sybaris.  Here  stood  the  ancient  city  of  Syba- 
ris, founded  about  the  time  of  Romulus  or  Numa 
Pompilius,  by  a  colony  from  Greece.  For  two  hun- 
dred years  and  more,  —  almost  as  long,  dear  Atlantic, 
as  your  beloved  Boston  has  subsisted,  —  Sybaris  flour- 


MY   VISIT   TO   SYBARIS.  9 

ished,  and  was  the  Rome  of  that  region,  ruhng  it  from 
sea  to  sea. 

It  was  the  capital  of  four  states,  —  a  sort  of  New 
England,  if  you  will  observe,  —  and  could  send  three 
hundred  thousand  armed  men  into  the  field,  more,  I 
will  observe  in  passing,  than  New  England  has,  as  yet, 
ever  had  occasion  to  send  at  one  moment.  The  walls 
of  the  city  were  six  miles  in  circumference,  while  the 
suburbs  covered  the  banks  of  the  Crathis  for  a  space  of 
seven  miles.  At  last  the  neighborino-  state  of  Crotona, 
under  the  lead  of  Milon  the  Athlete  (he  of  the  calf 
and  ox  and  split  log),  the  Heenan  or  John  Morrissey 
of  his  day,  vanquished  the  more  refined  Sybarites, 
turned  the  waters  of  the  Crathis  upon  their  prosperous 
city,  and  destroyed  it.  But  the  Sybarites  had  had 
that  thing  happen  too  often  to  be  discouraged.  Five 
times,  say  the  historians,  had  Sybaris  been  destroyed, 
and  five  times  they  built  it  up  again.  This  time  the 
Athenians  sent  ten  vessels,  with  men  to  help  them, 
under  Lampon  and  Xenocritus.  And  they,  with  those 
w'ho  stood  by  the  wreck,  gave  their  new  city  the  name 
of  Thurii.  Among  the  new  colonists  were  Herodotus, 
and  Lysias  the  orator,  who  was  then  a  boy.  The 
spirit  that  had  given  Sybaris  its  comfort  and  its  im- 
mense population  appeared  in  the  legislation  of  the 
new  state.  It  received  its  laws  from  Chaiio>"Das, 
one  of  the  noblest  legislators  of  the  world.  Study 
these  laws  and  you  will  see  that  in  the  young  Sybaris 
the  individual  had  his  rights,  which  the  public  pre- 
1* 


10  SYBAEIS  AND   OTHER   HOMES. 

served  for  him,  though  he  were  wholly  in  a  minority. 
There  is  an  evident  determination  that  a  man  shall 
live  while  he  lives,  and  that,  too,  in  no  sensual  inter- 
pretation of  the  words. 

Of  the  laws  made  by  Charondas  for  the  new  Syba- 
ris  a  few  are  preserved. 

1.  A  calumniator  was  marched  round  the  city  in 
disgrace,  crowned  with  tamarisk.  "  In  consequence," 
says  the  Scholiast,  "  they  all  left  the  city."  O  for 
such  a  result,  from  whatever  legislation,  in  our  mod- 
ern Pedlingtons,  great  or  little  ! 

2.  All  persons  were  forbidden  to  associate  with  the 
bad. 

3.  "  He  made  another  law,  better  than  these,  and 
neglected  by  the  older  legislators.  For  he  enacted 
that  all  the  sons  of  the  citizens  should  be  instructed  in 
letters,  the  city  paying  the  salaries  of  the  teachers. 
For  he  held  that  the  poor,  not  being  able  to  pay  their 
teachers  from  their  own  property,  would  be  deprived 
of  the  most  valuable  discipline."  There  is  free  edu- 
cation for  you,  two  thousand  and  seventy-six  years 
before  the  date  of  your  first  Massachusetts  free  school; 
and  the  theory  of  free  education  completely  stated. 

4.  Deserters  or  cowards  in  battle  had  to  sit  in  avo- 
men's  dresses  in  the  Forum  three  days. 

5.  With  regard  to  the  amendment  of  laws,  any  man 
or  woman  who  moved  one  did  it  with  a  noose  round 
his  neck,  and  was  hanged  if  the  people  refused  it. 
Only  three  laws  were   ever  amended,  therefore,  all 


MY   VISIT   TO   SYBARIS.  11 

wliich  are  recorded  in  the  history.  Observe  that  the 
women  miglit  move  amendments,  —  and  think  of  the 
simpHcity  of  legislation  I 

6.  Tlie  law  provided  for  cash  payments,  and  the  gov- 
ernment gave  no  protection  for  those  who  sold  on  credit. 

7.  Their  communication  with  other  nations  was 
perfectly  free. 

I  miiiht  give  more  instances.  I  should  like  to  tell 
some  of  the  curious  stories  which  illustrate  this  simple 
legislation.  Poor  Charondas  himself  fell  a  victim  to 
it.  One  of  the  laws  provided  that  no  man  should 
wear  a  swoi*d  into  the  public  assembly.  No  Crora- 
\vells  there !  Unfortunately,  by  accident,  Charondas 
wore  his  own  there  one  day.  Brave  fellow  !  when 
the  fault  was  pointed  out,  he  killed  himself  with  it. 

Now,  do  you  wonder  that  a  city,  where  there  were 
no  calumniators,  no  long  credit,  no  bills  at  the  grocers, 
no  fightino;  at  town-meetings,  no  amendments  to  the 
laws,  no  intentional  and  open  association  with  profli- 
gates, and  where  everybody  was  educated  by  the  state 
to  letters,  proved  a  comfortable  place  to  live  in  ?  It 
is  of  the  old  Sybaris  that  the  coppersmith  and  the  rose- 
leaf  stories  are  told ;  and  it  was  the  new  Sybaris  that 
made  the  laws.  But  do  you  not  see  that  there  is  one 
spirit  in  the  whole  ?  Here  was  a  nation  which  believed 
that  the  highest  work  of  a  nation  was  to  train  its  peo- 
ple. It  did  not  believe  in  fight,  like  Milon  or  Heenan 
or  the  old  Spartans ;  it  did  not  believe  in  legislation, 
like  Massachusetts  and  New  York ;  it  did  not  believe 


12  SYBARIS   AND   OTHER   HOMES. 

in  commerce,  like  Carthage  and  England.  It  believed 
in  men  and  women.  It  respected  men  and  women. 
It  educated  men  and  women.  It  gave  'their  rights  to 
men  and  women.  And  so  the  Spartans  called  them 
effeminate.  And  the  Greek  Reader  made  fun  of  them. 
But  perha])S  the  people  who  lived  there  were  indiffer- 
ent to  the  opinions  of  the  Spartans  and  of  the  Greek 
Reader.  Herodotus  lived  there  till  he  died  ;  wrote 
his  history  there,  among  other  things.  Lysias,  the 
orator,  took  part  in  the  administration.  It  is  not  from 
them,  you  may  be  sure,  that  you  get  the  anecdotes 
which  ridicule  the  old  city  of  Sybaris  ! 

You  and  I  would  probably  be  satisfied  with  such 
company  as  that  of  Herodotus  and  Charondas  and 
Lysias.  So  we  hunt  the  history  down  to  see  if  there 
may  be  lodgings  to  let  there  this  summer,  but  only 
to  find  that  it  all  pales  out  in  the  ignorance  of  our 
modern  days.  The  name  gets  changed  into  Lupise ; 
but  there  it  turns  out  that  Pausanias  made  a  "  strange 
mistake,"  and  should  have  written  Copia,  —  which 
was  perhaps  Cossa,  or  sometimes  Cosa.  Pyrrhus 
appears,  and  Hadrian  rebuilds  something,  and  the 
"  Oltramontani,"  whoever  they  may  have  been,  rav- 
age it,  and  finally  the  Saracens  fire  and  sack  it  j  and 
so,  in  the  latest  Italian  itinerary  you  can  find,  there  is 
no  post-road  goes  near  it,  only  a  strada  rotahile  (wheel- 
track)  upon  the  hills;  and,  alas!  even  the  rotahile' 
gives  way  at  last,  and  all  the  map  will  own  to  is  a 
strada  pedonale,  or  foot-path.     But  the  map  is  of  the 


MY   VISIT    TO   SYBARIS.  13 

less  consequence,  wlien  you  find  that  the  man  who 
edited  it  had  no  later  dates  than  the  beginning  of  the 
]ast  century,  when  the  family  of  Serra  had  transferred 
the  title  to  Sybaris  to  a  Genoese  family  without  a  name, 
who  received  from  it  forty  thousand  ducats  yearly, 
and  would  have  received  more,  if  their  agents  had 
been  more  faithful.  There  the  place  fades  out  of  his- 
tory, and  you  find  in  your  Swinburne,  "  that  the 
locality  has  never  been  thoroughly  examined  "  ;  in  your 
Smith's  Dictionary,  that  "  the  whole  subject  is  very 
obscure,  and  a  careful  examination  still  much  needed  " ; 
in  the  Cyclopaedia,  that  the  site  of  Sybaris  is  lost. 
Craven  saw  the  rivers  Crathis  and  Sybaris.  He  seems 
not  to  have  seen  the  wall  of  Sybaris,  which  he  sup- 
posed to  be  under  water.  He  does  say  of  Cassano, 
the  nearest  town  he  came  to,  that  "  no  other  spot  can 
boast  of  such  advantages."  In  short,  no  man  living 
who  has  written  any  book  about  it  dares  say  that  any- 
body has  looked  upon  the  certain  site  of  Sybaris  for 
more  than  a  hundred  years.*  If  a  man  wanted  to  write 
a  mythical  story,  where  could  he  find  a  better  scene  ? 

*  The  reader  who  cares  to  follow  the  detail  is  referred  to  Diodorus 
Siculns,  XII.  9  et  seq.  ;  Strabo,  VI. ;  ^lian,  V.  H.  9,  c.  24 ;  Athe- 
naius,  XII.  518  -  520  ;  Plutarch  in  Pelopidas  ;  Herodotus,  V.  and  VI. 
Compare  Laurent's  Geographical  Notes,  and  Wheeler  and  Gaisford ; 
riiny.  III.  15,  VII.  22,  XVI.  33,  VIII.  64,  XXXI.  9,  10 ;  Aristotle, 
Polit.  IV.  12,  V.  3  ;  Heyne's  Opuscula,  II.  74,;  Bentley's  Phalaris, 
367  ;  Solinus,  2,  §  10, "  luxuries  grossly  exaggerated  "  ;  Scymnus,  337  - 
360;  Aristophanes,  Vesp.  1427,  1436  ;  Lycophron,  Alex.  1079;  Pau- 
eanias  at  Lupias  ;  Polybius,  Gen.  Hist.  II.  3,  on  the  confederation  of 


14  SYBAEIS   AND   OTHER  HOMES. 

Now  is  not  this  a  very  remarkable  thing  ?  Here  was 
a  city,  which,  under  its  two  names  of  Sybaris  or  of 
Thurii,  was  for  centuries  the  regnant  city  of  all  that 
part  of  the  world.  It  could  call  into  the  field  three 
hundred  thousand  men,  —  an  army  enough  larger  than 
Athens  ever  furnished,  or  Sparta.  It  was  a  far  more 
populous  and  powerful  state  than  ever  Athens  was,  or 
Sparta,  or  the  whole  of  Hellas.  It  invented  and  car- 
ried into  effect  free  popular  education,  —  a  gift  to  the 
administration  of  free  government  larger  than  ever 
Rome  rendered.  It  received  and  honored  Charondas, 
the  great  practical  legislator,  from  whose  laws  no  man 
shall  say  how  much  has  trickled  down  into  the  Code 
Napoleon  or  the  Revised  Statutes  of  New  York, 
through  the  humble  studies  of  the  Roman  jurists. 
It  maintained  in  peace,  prosperity,  happiness,  and, 
as  its  maligners  say,  in  comfort,  an  immense  popula- 
tion. If  they  had  not  been  as  comfortable  as  they 
were,  —  if  a  tenth  part  of  them  had  received  alms 
every  year,  and  a  tenth  part  were  flogged  in  the  pub- 
lic schools  every  year,  and  one  in  forty  had  been  sent 
to  prison  every  year,  as  in  the  happy  city  which  pub- 

Sybaris,  Kroton,  and  Kaulonia,  —  "a  perplexing  statement,"  says 
Grote,  "  showing  that  he  must  have  conceived  the  history  of  Sybaris  in 
a  very  different  form  from  that  in  which  it  is  commonly  represented  " ; 
third  volume  of  De  Non,  who  disagrees  with  Magnan  as  to  the  site 
of  Sybaris,  and  says  the  sea-shore  is  uninhabj»table !  Tuccagni  Or- 
landini,  Vol.  XI.,  Supplement,  p.  294 ;  besides  the  dictionaries  and 
bocks  of  travels,  including  Murray.  I  have  availed  myself,  without 
other  reference,  of  most  of  these  authorities. 


MY  VISIT   TO   SYBAEIS.  l5 

lishes  these  humble  studies,  —  then  Sybaris,  perhaps, 
Avould  never  have  got  its  bad  name  for  luxury. 
Such  a  city  lived,  flourished,  ruled,  for  hundreds  of 
years.  Of  such  a  city  all  that  you  know  now  with 
certainty  is,  that  its  coin  is  "  the  most  beautifully  fin- 
ished in  the  cabinets  of  ancient  coinage  "  ;  and  that 
no  traveller  pretends  to  be  sure  that  he  has  been  to 
the  site  of  it  for  more  than  a  hundred  years.  That 
speaks  well  for  your  nineteenth  century. 

Now  the  reader  who  has  come  thus  far  will  under- 
stand that  I,  having  come  thus  far,  in  twenty-odd 
years  since  those  days  of  teetering  on  the  pea-green 
settee,  had  always  kept  Sybaris  in  the  background  of 
my  head,  as  a  problem  to  be  solved,  and  an  inquiry  to 
be  followed  to  its  completion.  There  could  hardly 
have  been  a  man  in  the  world  better  satisfied  than  I 
to  be  the  hero  of  the  adventure  which  I  am  now 
about  to  describe. 

If  the  reader  remembers  anything  aDout  Garibaldi's 
triumphal  entry  into  Porto  Cavallo  in  Sicily  in  the 
spring  of  1859,  he  will  remember  that,  between  the 
months  of  March  and  April  in  that  year,  the  great 
chieftain  made,  in  that  wretched  little  fishing  haven,  a 
long  pause,  which  was  not  at  the  time  understood  by 
the  journals  or  by  their  military  critics,  and  which,  in- 
deed, to  this  hour  has  never  been  publicly  explained.  I 
suppose  I  know  as  much  about  it  as  any  man  now  living. 
But  I  am  not  writing  Garibaldi's  memoirs,  nor  indeed, 


16  SYBARIS   AND   OTHER  HOMES. 

my  own,  excepting  so  far  as  they  relate  to  Sybaris; 
and  it  is  strictly  nobody's  business  to  inquire  as  to  that 
detention,  unless  it  interest  the  ex-king  of  Naples,  who 
may  write  to  me,  if  he  chooses,  addressing  Frederic 
Ingham,  Esq.,  Waterville,  N.  H.  Nor  is  it  anybody's 
business  how  lono;  I  had  then  been  on  Garibaldi's 
staff.  From  the  number  of  his  staff-officers  who  have 
since  visited  me  in  America,  very  much  in  want  of  a 
pair  of  pantaloons,  or  a  ticket  to  New  York,  or  some- 
thing with  which  they  might  buy  a  glass  of  whiskey,  I 
should  think  that  his  staff  alone  must  haA^e  made  up 
a  much  more  considerable  army  than  Naples,  or  even 
Sybaris,  ever  brought  into  the  field.  But  where  these 
men  were  when  I  was  with  him,  I  do  not  knoM^  I 
only  know  that  there  was  but  a  handful  of  us  then, 
hard-worked  fellows,  good-natured,  and  not  above  our 
duty.  Of  its  military  details  we  knew  wretchedly 
little.  But  as  we  had  no  artilleiy,  ignorance  was  less 
dangerous  in  the  chief  of  artillery;  as  we  had  no 
maps  to  draw,  poor  draftsmanship  did  not  much  embar- 
rass the  engineer  in  chief  For  me,  I  was  nothing 
but  an  aid,  and  I  was  glad  to  do  anything  that  fell  to 
me  as  well  as  I  knew  how.  And,  as  usual  in  human 
life,  I  found  that  a  cool  head,  a  steady  resolve,  a  con- 
centrated purpose,  and  an  unselfish  readiness  to  obey, 
carried  me  a  great  way.  I  listened  instead  of  talking, 
and  thus  got  a  reputation  for  knowing  a  great  deal. 
When  the  time  to  act  came,  I  acted  without  waiting 
for  the  wave  to  recede  ;  and  thus  I  sprang  into  many 


MY   VISIT   TO   SYBAEIS.  17 

a  boat  dry-shod,  while  people  who  believed  in  what  is 
popularly  called  prudence  missed  their  chance,  and 
either  lost  the  boat  or  fell  into  the  water. 

This  is  by  the  way.  It  was  under  these  circum- 
stances that  I  received  my  orders,  wholly  secret  and 
unexpected,  to  take  a  boat  at  once,  pass  the  straits, 
and  cross  the  Bay  of  Tarentum,  to  communicate  at 
Gallipoli  with  —  no  matter  whom.  Perhaps  I  was 
going  to  the  "  Castle  of  Otranto."  A  hundred  years 
hence  anybody  who  chooses  will  know.  Meanwhile, 
if  there  should  be  a  reaction  in  Otranto,  I  do  not 
choose  to  shorten  anybody's  neck  for  him. 

Well,  it  was  five  in  the  afternoon,  —  near  sundown 
at  that  season.  I  went  to  dear  old  Frank  Chaney,  — 
the  jolliest  of  jolly  Englishmen,  who  was  acting  quar- 
termaster-general, —  and  told  him  I  must  have  trans- 
portation. I  can  see  him  and  hear  him  now,  —  as  he 
sat  on  his  barrel-head,  smoked  his  vile  Tunisian  tobacco 
in  his  beloved  short  meerschaum,  which  was  left  to  him 
ever  since  he  was  at  Bonn,  as  he  pretended,  a  student 
with  Prince  Albert.  He  did  not  swear,  —  I  don't 
think  he  ever  did.  But  he  looked  perplexed  enough 
to  swear.     And  very  droll  was  the  twinkle  of  his  eye. 

The  truth  was,  that  every  sort  of  a  thing  that  would 
sail,  and  every  wretch  of  a  fisherman  that  could  sail 
her,  had  been,  as  he  knew,  and  as  I  knew,  sent  off 
that  very  morning  to  rendezvous  at  Carrara,  for  the 
contingent  which  we  were  hoping  had  slipped  through 
Cavour's   pretended   neutrality.     And   here  was   an 


18  SYBARIS  AND   OTHER  HOMES. 

order  for  him  to  furnish  me  "transportation  "  in  exactly 
the  opposite  direction. 

"  Do  you  know  of  anything,  yourself,  Fred  ?  "  said 
he. 

"  Not  a  coffin,"  said  I. 

"  Did  the  chief  suggest  anything  ?  " 

"  Not  a  nutshell,"  said  I. 

"  Could  not  you  go  by  telegraph  ?  "  said  Frank, 
pointing  up  to  the  dumb  old  semaphore  in  whose  tower 
he  had  established  himself.  "  Or  has  not  the  chief 
got  a  wishing  carpet  ?  Or  can't  you  ride  to  Gallipoli  ? 
Here  are  some  excellent  white-tailed  mules,  good 
enough  for  Pindar,  whom  Colvocoressis  has  just  brought 
in  from  the  monastery.  '  Transportation  for  one  ! ' 
Is  there  anything  to  be  brought  back  ?  Nitre,  pow- 
der, lead,  junk,  hard-tack,  mules,  horses,  T^igs,  polenta^ 
or  olla  podrida,  or  other  of  the  stores  of  war  ?  " 

No ;  there  was  nothing  to  bring  back  except  my- 
self Lucky  enough  if  I  came  back  to  tell  my  own 
story.  And  so  we  walked  up  on  the  tower  deck  to 
take  a  look. 

Blessed  St.  Lazarus,  chief  of  Naples  and  of  beggars  ! 
a  little  felucca  was  just  rounding  the  Horse  Head  and 
coming  into  the  bay,  wing-wing.  The  fishermen  in  her 
had  no  thought  that  they  were  ever  going  to  get  into  the 
Atlantic.  Maybe  they  had  never  heard  of  the  Ocean 
or  of  the  Monthly.  Can  that  be  possible  ?  Frank 
nodded,  and  I.  He  filled  up  with  more  Tunisian, 
beckoned  to  an  orderly,  and  we  walked  down  to  the 
landing-jetty  to  meet  them. 


MY   VISIT   TO   SYBARIS.  19 

"  Viva  Italia!  "  shouted  Frank,  as  they  drew  near 
enough  to  hear. 

"  Viva  Garibaldi !  "  cried  the  skipper,  as  he  let  his 
sheet  fly  and  rounded  to  the  well-worn  stones.  A 
good  voyage  had  they  made  of  it,  he  and  his  two 
brown,  ragged  boys.  Larg^fish  and  small,  pink  fish, 
blue,  yellow,  orange,  striped  fish  and  mottled,  wriggled 
together,  and  flapped  their  tails  in  the  well  of  the  lit- 
tle boat.  There  were  even  too  many  to  lie  there  and 
wriggle.  The  bottom  of  the  boat  was  well  covered 
with  them,  and,  if  she  had  not  shipped  Avaves  enough 
to  keep  them  cool,  the  boy  Battista  had  bailed  a  plenty 
on  them.  Father  and  son  hurried  on  shore,  and  Bat- 
tista on  board  began  to  fling  the  scaly  fellows  out  to 
them. 

A  very  small  craft  it  was  to  double  all  those  capes 
in,  run  the  straits,  and  stretch  across  the  bay.  If  it 
had  been  mine  "  to  make  reply,"  I  should  undoubted- 
ly have  made  this,  that  I  would  see  the  quartermaster 
hanged,  and  his  superiors,  before  I  risked  myself  in 
any  such  rattletrap.  But  as,  unfortunately,  it  was 
mine  to  go  where  I  was  sent,  I  merely  set  the  orderly 
to  throwing  out  fish  with  the  boys,  and  began  to  talk 
with  the  father. 

Queer  enough,  just  at  that  moment,  there  came 
over  me  the  feeling  that,  as  a  graduate  of  the  Univer- 
sity, it  was  my  duty  to  put  up  those  red,  white,  and 
blue  scaly  fellows,  who  wore  flopping  about  there  so 
briskly,  and  send  them  in  alcohol  to  Agassiz.      But 


20  SYBAKIS   AND   OTHER  HOMES. 

there  are  so  many  duties  of  tliat  kind  which  one  neg- 
lects in  a  hard-worked  world  !  As  a  graduate,  it  is 
my  duty  to  send  annually  to  the  College  Librarian  a 
list  of  all  the  graduates  who  have  died  in  the  town  I 
live  in,  Avith  their  fathers'  and  mothers'  names,  and 
the  motives  that  led  ther^  to  College,  with  anecdotes 
of  their  career,  and  the  date  of  their  death.  There 
are  two  thousand  three  hundred  and  forty-five  of  them 
I  believe,  and  I  have  never  sent  one-half  anecdote 
about  one  !  Such  failure  in  duty  made  me  grimly 
smile  as  I  omitted  to  stop  and  put  up  these  fish  in  al- 
cohol, and  as  I  plied  the  unconscious  skipper  with  in- 
quiries about  his  boat.  "  Had  she  ever  been  outside  ?  " 
"  O  signor,  she  had  been  outside  this  very  day.  You 
cannot  catch  to7ino  till  you  have  passed  both  capes,  — 
least  of  all  such  fine  fish  as  that  is,"  — and   he  kicked 

the  poor  wretch.     Can  it  be  true,  as  C says,  that 

those  dying  flaps  of  theirs  are  exquisite  luxury  to 
them,  because  for  the  first  time  they  have  their  fill  of 
oxygen  ?  "  Had  he  ever  been  beyond  Peloro  ?  " 
"O  yes,  signor;  my  wife,  Catarina,  was  herself  from 
Messina," — and  on  great  saints'  days  they  had  gone 
there  often.  Poor  fellow,  his  great  saint's  day  sealed  his 
fate.  I  nodded  to  Frank,  —  Fi'ank  nodded  to  me,  — • 
and  Frank  blandly  informed  him  that,  by  order  of 
General  Garibaldi,  he  would  take  the  gentleman  at 
once  on  board,  pass  the  strait  with  him,  "  and  then  go 
where  he  tells  you." 

The  Southern  Italian  has   the  reputation,  derived 


MY   VISIT   TO   SYBARIS.  21 

from  Tom  Moore,  of  being  a  coward.      When  I  used 
to  speak  at  school, 


I " 


"  Ay,  down  to  the  dust  witli  them,  —  slaves  as  they  are  ! 

stampnig  my  foot  at  "  dust,"  I  certainly  thought  they 
were  a  very  mean  crew.  But  I  dare  say  that  Neapol- 
itan school-boys  have  some  similar  school  piece  about 
the  risings  of  Tom  Moore's  countrymen,  which  cer- 
tainly have  not  been  much  more  successful  than  the 
poor  little  Neapolitan  revolution  which  he  was  pleased 
to  satirize.  Somehow  or  other,  Victor  Emanuel  is,  at 
this  hour,  king  of  Naples.  Coward  or  not,  this  fine 
fellow  of  a  fisherman  did  not  flinch.  It  is  my  private 
opinion  that  he  was  not  nearly  as  much  afraid  of  the 
enterprise  as  I  was.  I  made  this  observation  at  the 
moment  with  some  satisfaction,  sent  Frank's  man  up 
to  my  lodgings  with  a  note  ordering  my  own  traps 
sent  down,  and  in  an  hour  we  were  stretching  out, 
under  the  twilight,  across  the  little  bay. 

No  !  I  spare  you  the  voyage.  Sybaris  is  what  we 
are  after,  all  this  time,  if  we  can  only  get  there.  Very 
easy  it  would  be  for  me  to  give  you  cheap  scholarship 
from  the  ^neid,  about  Palinurus  and  Scylla  and 
Charybdis.  Neither  Scylla  nor  Charybdis  bothered 
me,  —  as  we  passed  wing-wing  between  them  before  a 
smart  north  wind.  I  had  a  little  Hunter's  Virgil  with 
me,  and  read  the  whole  voyage, —  and  confused  Bat- 
tista  utterly  by  trying  to  make  him  remember  some- 
thing about  Palinuro,  of  whom  he  had  never  heard. 


22  SYBARIS   AND   OTHER   HOMES. 

It  was  much  as  I  afterwards  asked  my  negro  waiter 
at  Fort  Monroe  about  General  Washington  at  York- 
town.  "  Never  heard  of  him,  sir,  —  was  he  in  the 
Regular  army  ?  "  So  Battista  thought  Palinuro  must 
have  fished  in  the  Italian  fleet,  Avith  which  the  Sicilian 
boatmen  were  not  well  acquainted.  Messina  made  no 
objections  to  us.  Perhaps,  if  the  sloop  of  war  which 
lay  there  had  known  who  was  lying  in  the  boat  under 
her  guns,  I  might  n3t  be  writing  these  words  to-day. 
Battista  went  ashore,  got  lemons,  macaroni,  hard 
bread,  polenta,  for  themselves,  the  G-iornale  di  3fessi- 
na  for  me,  and  more  Tunisian  ;  and,  not  to  lose  that 
splendid  breeze,  we  cracked  on  all  day,  passed  Reggio, 
hugged  the  shore  bravely,  though  it  was  rough,  ran 
close  under  those  cliffs  which  are  the  very  end  of  the 
Apennines,  —  will  it  shock  the  modest  reader  if  I  say 
the  very  toe-nails  of  the  Italian  foot  ?  —  hauled  more 
and  more  eastward,  made  Spartivento  blue  in  the  dis- 
tance, made  it  purple,  made  it  brown,  made  it  green, 
still  running  admirably,  —  ten  knots  an  hour  we  must 
have  got  between  four  and  five  that  afternoon, —  and, 
by  the  time  the  lighthouse  at  Spartivento  was  well 
ablaze,  we  were  abreast  of  it,  and  might  begin  to  haul 
more  northward,  so  that,  though  we  had  a  long  course 
before  us,  we  should  at  last  be  sailing  almost  directly 
towards  our  voyage's  end,  Gallipoli. 

At  that  moment  —  as  in  any  sea  often  happens,  if 
you  come  out  from  the  more  land-locked  channel  into 
the   larger   body   of  water  —  the   wind  appeared   to 


MY    VISIT   TO   SYBARIS.  23 

change.  Really,  I  suppose,  we  came  into  the  steady 
southwest  wind  which  had  probably  been  drawing  all 
day  up  toward  the  Adriatic.  In  two  hours  more  we 
made  the  lighthouse  of  Stilo,  and  I  Avas  then  tired 
enough  to  crawl  down  into  the  fearfully  smelling  little 
cuddy,  and,  wrapping  Battista's  heavy  storm-jacket 
round  my  feet,  I  caught  some  sort  of  sleep. 

But  not  for  very  long.  I  struck  my  watch  at  three 
in  the  morning.  And  the  air  was  so  unworthy  of  that 
name,  —  it  was  such  a  thick  paste,  seeming  to  me 
more  like  a  mixture  of  tar  and  oil  and  fresh  fish  and 
decayed  fish  and  bilge-water  than  air  itself,  —  that  I 
voted  three  morning,  and  crawled  up  into  the  clear 
starlight,  —  how  wonderful  it  was,  and  the  fresh  wet 
breeze  that  washed  my  face  so  cheerily !  —  and  I  bade. 
Battista  take  his  turn  below,  while  I  would  lie  there 
and  mind  the  helm.  If — if  he  had  done  what  I  pro- 
posed, I  suppose  I  should  not  be  writing  these  lines  ; 
but  his  father,  good  fellow,  said :  "  No,  signor,  not 
yet.  We  leave  the  shore  now  for  the  broad  bay,  you 
see  ;  and  if  the  wind  haul  southward,  we  may  need  to 
go  on  the  other  tack.  We  will  all  stay  here,  till  we 
see  what  the  deep-sea  wind  may  be."  So  we  lay 
there,  humming,  singing,  and  telling  stories,  still  this 
rampant  southwest  wind  behind,  as  if  all  the  powers 
of  the  Mediterranean  meant  to  favor  my  mission  to 
Gallipoli.  The  boat  was  now  running  straight  before 
it.  We  stretched  out  bravely  into  the  gulf;  but,  be- 
fore the  wind,  it  was  astonishing  how  easily  the  lugger 


24  SYBARIS   AND   OTHER  HOMES.  « 

ran.  He  said  to  me  at  last,  however,  that  on  that 
course  we  were  running  to  leeward  of  our  object ;  but 
that  it  was  the  best  point  for  his  boat,  and  if  the  wind 
held,  he  would  keep  on  so  an  hour  longer,  and  trust 
to  the  land  breeze  in  the  mornino;  to  run  down  the 
opposite  shore  of  the  bay. 

*'If"  again.  The  wind  did  not  keep  on.  Either 
the  pole-star,  and  the  dipper,  and  all  the  rest  of  them, 
had  rebelled  and  were  drifting  westward,  —  and  so  it 
seemed  ;  or  this  steady  southwest  gale  was  giving  out ; 
or,  as  I  said  before,  we  had  come  into  the  sweep  of  a  cur- 
rent even  stronger,  pouring  from  the  Levantine  shores 
of  the  Mediterranean  full  up  the  Gulf  of  Tarentum. 
Not  ten  minutes  after  the  skipper  spoke,  it  was  clear 
enough  to  both  of  us  that  the  boat  must  go  about, 
whether  we  wanted  to  or  not,  and  we  waked  the  other 
boy,  to  send  him  forward,  before  we  accepted  the 
necessity.  Half  asleep,  he  got  up,  courteously  de- 
clined my  effort  to  help  him  by  me  as  he  crossed  the 
boat,  stepped  round  on  the  gunwale  behind  me  as  I 
sat,  and  then,  either  in  a  lurch  or  in  some  misstep, 
caught  his  foot  in  the  tiller  as  his  father  held  it  firm, 
and  pitched  down  directly  behind  Battista  himself, 
and,  as  I  thought,  into  the  sea.  I  sprang  to  leeward 
to  throw  something  after  him,  and  found  him  in  the 
sea  indeed,  but  hanging  by  both  hands  to  the  gunwale, 
safe  enough,  and  in  a  minute,  with  Battista's  help  and 
mine,  on  board  again.  I  remember  how  pleased  I  was 
that  his  father  did  not  swear  at  him,  but  only  laughed 


MY   VISIT   TO   SYBARIS.  25 

prettily,  and  bade  liim  be  quick,  and  step  forward ; 
and  then  turning  to  the  hehn,  wliicli  he  had  left  free 
for  the  moment,  he  did  not  swear  indeed,  but  he  did 
cry  "  Santa  Madre  !  "  when  he  found  there  was  no 
tiller  there.  The  boy's  foot  had  fairly  wrenched  it, 
not  only  from  his  father's  hand,  but  from  the  rudder- 
head,  —  and  it  was  gone  ! 

We  held  the  old  fellow  firmly  by  his  feet  and  legs, 
as  he  lay  over  the  stern  of  the  boat,  head  down,  ex- 
amining the  condition  of  the  rudder-head.  The  report 
was  not  favorable.  I  renewed  the  investigation  myself 
in  the  same  uncomfortable  attitude.  The  phosphores- 
cence of  the  sea  was  but  an  unsteady  light,  but  light 
enough  there  was  to  reveal  what  daylight  made  hardly 
more  certain,  —  that  the  wrench  which  had  been  given 
to  the  rotten  old  fixtures,  shaky  enough  at  best,  had 
split  the  head  of  the  rudder,  so  that  the  pintle  hung 
but  loosely  in  its  bed,  and  that  there  was  nothing  avail- 
able for  us  to  rig  a  jury  tiller  on.  This  discovery,  as  it 
became  more  and  more  clear  to  each  of  us  four  in  succes- 
sion, abated  successively  the  volleys  of  advice  which 
we  were  offering,  and  sent  us  back  to  our  more  quiet 
"  Santa  Madres "  or  to  meditations  on  "  what  was 
next  to  best." 

Meanwhile  the  boat  was  flying,  under  the  sail  she 
had  before,  straight  before  the  wind,  up  the  Gulf  of 
Tare  n  turn. 

If  you  cannot  have  what  you  like,  it  is  best,  in  a 
finite  world,  to  hke  what  you  have.     And  while  the 

2 


26  SYBARIS   AND    OTHER   HOMES. 

old  man  brought  up  from  the  cuddy  his  wretched  and 
worthless  stock  of  staves,  rope-ends,  and  bits  of  iron, 
and  contemplated  them  ruefully,  as  if  asking  thera 
which  would  like  to  assume  the  shape  of  a  rudder- 
head  and  tiller,  if  his  fairy  godmother  would  appear 
on  the  top  of  the  mast  for  a  moment,  I  was  plying  the 
boys  with  questions,  —  what  would  happen  to  us  if 
we  held  on  at  this  tearing  rate,  and  rushed  up  the  bay 
to  the  head  thereof.  The  boys  knew  no  more  than 
they  knew  of  Palinuro.  Far  enough,  indeed,  were 
we  from  their  parish.  The  old  man  at  last  laid  down 
the  bit  of  brass  which  he  had  saved  from  some  old 
waif,  and  listened  to  me  as  I  pointed  out  to  them  on 
my  map  the  course  we  were  making,  and,  without 
answering  me  a  word,  fell  on  his  knees  and  broke  into 
most  voluble  prayer,  —  only  interrupted  by  sobs  of 
undisguised  agony.  The  boys  were  almost  as  much 
surprised  as  I  was.  And  as  he  prayed  and  sobbed, 
the  boat  rushed  on  ! 

Santa  Madre,  San  Giovanni,  and  Sant'  Antonio,  — 
we  needed  all  their  help,  if  it  wei'e  only  to  keep 
him  quiet ;  and  when  at  last  he  rose  from  his  knees, 
and  came  to  himself  enough  to  tend  the  sheets  a  little, 
I  asked,  as  modestly  as  I  could,  what  put  this  keen 
edge  on  his  grief  or  his  devotions.  Then  came  such 
stories  of  hobgoblins,  witches,  devils,  giants,  elves,  and 
fairies,  at  this  head  of  the  bay !  —  no  man  ever  re- 
turned who  landed  there ;  his  father  and  his  father's 
father  had  charged  him,    and   his  brothers   and   his 


MV    VISIT    TO   SYBARIS.  27 

cousins,  never  to  be  lured  to  make  a  voyage  there, 
and  never  to  run  fin*  those  coves,  though  schools  of 
golden  fish  should  lead  the  way.  It  was  not  till  this 
moment,  that,  trying  to  make  him  look  upon  the  map, 
I  read  myself  there  the  words,  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Crathis  lliver,  "  Sybari  Ruine." 

Surely  enough,  this  howling  Euroclydon  —  for  Eu- 
roclydon  it  now  was  —  was  bearing  me  and  mine 
directly  to  Sybaris ! 

And  here  was  this  devout  old  fisherman  confirming 
the  words  of  Smith's  Dictionary,  when  it  said  that 
nobody  had  been  there  and  returned,  for  generation 
upon  generation. 

At  a  dozen  knots  an  hour,  as  things  were,  I  was 

'going  to  Sybaris  !     Nor  was  I  many  hours  from  it. 

For  at  that  moment  we  cannot  have  been  more  than 

five-and-thirty  miles  from  the  beach,  Avhere,  in  less 

than  five  hours,  Euroclydon  flung  us  on  shore. 

The  memory  of  the  old  green  settees,  and  of  Hutch- 
inson and  Wheeler  and  the  other  Latin-school  boys, 
sustained  me  beneath  the  calamity  which  impended. 
Nor  do  I  think  at  heart  the  boys  felt  so  bad  as  their 
father  about  the  djins  and  the  devils,  the  powers  of 
the  earth  and  the  powers  of  the  air.  Is  there,  per- 
ha])s,  in  the  youthful  mind,  rather  a  passion  for  "  see- 
ing the  fi)lly  "  of  life  a  little  in  that  direction  ?  None 
the  less  did  we  join  him  in  rigging  out  the  longest 
sweep  we  had  aft,  lashing  it  tight  under  the  little  rail 
which  we  had  been  leaning  on,  and  trying  gentle  ex- 


28  SYBARIS   AND   OTHER   HOMES. 

periments,  how  fai'  this  extemporized  rudder  might 
bring  the  boat  round  to  the  wind.  Nonsense  the 
whole  !  By  that  time  Euroclydon  M^as  on  us,  so  that 
I  would  never  have  tried  to  put  her  about  if  we  had 
had  the  best  gear  I  ever  handled,  and  our.  experiments 
only  succeeded  far  enough  to  show  that  we  were  as 
utterly  powerless  as  men  could  be.  Meanwhile  day 
was  just  beginning  to  break.  I  soothed  the  old  man 
with  such  devout  expressions  as  heretic  might  venture. 
I  tried  to  turn  him  from  the  coming  evil  to  the  present 
necessity.  I  counselled  with  him  whether  it  might 
not  be  safer  to  take  in  sail  and  drift  alono;.  But  from 
this  he  dissented.  Time  enough  to  take  in  sail  when 
we  knew  what  shore  we  were  coming  to.  He  had  no 
kedge  or  grapple  or  cord,  indeed,  that  would  pretend 
to  hold  this  boat  against  this  gale.  We  would  beach 
her,  if  it  pleased  the  Virgin  ;  and  if  we  could  not,  — 
shaking  his  head,  —  why,  that  would  please  the  Vir- 
gin, too. 

And  so  Euroclydon  hurried  us  on  to  Sybaris. 

The  sun  rose,  O  how  magnificently  !  Is  there  any- 
where to  see  sunrise  like  the  Mediterranean  ?  And 
if  one  may  not  be  on  the  top  of  Katahdin,  is  there  any 
place  for  sunrise  like  the  very  level  of  the  sea  ?  Al- 
ready the  Calabrian  mountains  of  our  western  horizon 
were  gray  against  the  sky.  One  or  another  of  us  was 
forward  all  the  time,  trying  to  make  out  by  what 
slopes  the  hills  descended  to  the  sea.  Was  it  cliff  of 
basalt,  or  was  it  reedy  swamp,  that  was  to  receive  us  ? 


MY  VISIT   TO   SYBARIS.  29 

I  insisted  at  last  on  his  reducing  sail.  For  I  felt  sure 
that  he  was  driving  on  under  a  sort  of  fatality  which 
made  him  dare  the  worst.  I  was  wholly  right,  for  the 
boat  now  rose  easier  on  the  water,  and  was  much  more 
dry. 

Perhaps  the  wind  flagged  a  little  as  the  sun  rose. 
At  all  events,  he  took  courage,  which  I  had  never  lost. 
I  made  his  boy  find  us  some  oranges.  I  made  them 
laugh  by  eating  their  cold  polenta  with  them.  I  even 
made  him  confess,  when  I  called  him  aft  and  sent  Bat- 
tista  forward,  that  the  shore  we  were  nearing  looked 
low.  For  we  were  near  enough  now  to  see  stone- 
pines  and  chestnut-trees.  Did  anybody  see  the  towers 
of  Sybaris  ? 

Not  a  tower !  But,  on  the  other  hand,  not  a  gnome, 
witch,  Noma's  Head,  or  other  intimation  of  the  under- 
world. The  shore  looked  like  many  other  Italian 
shores.  It  looked  not  very  unlike  what  we  Yankees 
call  salt-marsh.  At  all  events,  we  should  not  break 
our  heads  against  a  wall  !  Nor  will  I  draw  out  the 
story  of  our  anxieties,  varying  as  the  waves  did  on 
which  we  rose  and  fell  so  easily.  As  she  forged  on,  it 
was  clear  at  last  that  to  some  wanderers,  at  least, 
Sybaris  had  some  hospitality.  A  long,  low  spit 
made  out  into  the  sea,  with  never  a  house  on  it,  but 
brown  with  storm-worn  shrubs,  above  the  line  of 
which  were  the  stone-pines  and  chestnuts  which 
had  first  given  character  to  the  shore.  Hard  for  us, 
if  we  had  been  flung  on  the  outside  of  this  spit.     But 


30  SYB-ARIS   AND   OTHER  HOMES. 

we  were  not.  Else  I  had  not  been  writing  here  to-day. 
"VVe  passed  it  by  fifty  fathom  clear.  Of  course  under  its 
lee  was  our  harbor.  Battista  let  go  the  halyards  in  a 
moment,  and  the  wet  sails  came  rattling  down.  The 
old  man,  the  boy,  Battista,  and  I  seized  the  best 
sweeps  he  had  left.  Two  of  us  at  each,  working  on 
the  same  side,  we  brought  her  head  round  as  fast  as  she 
would  bear  it  in  that  fearful  sea.  Inch  by  inch  we 
wrought  along  to  the  smoother  water,  and  breathed 
free  at  last  as  we  came  under  the  partial  protection  of 
the  friendly  shore. 

Battista  and  his  brother  then  hauled  up  the  sail 
enough  to  give  such  headway  to  the  boat  as  we 
thought  our  sweeps  would  control.  And  we  crept 
along  the  shore  for  an  hour,  seeing  nothing  but  reeds, 
and  now  and  then  a  distant  bufHilo,  when  at  last  a  very 
hard  knock  on  a  rock  the  boy  ahead  had  not  seen 
under  water  started  the  planks  so  that  we  knew  that 
was  dangerous  play ;  and,  without  more  solicitation, 
the  old  man  beached  the  boat  in  a  little  cove  where 
the  reeds  gave  place  for  a  trickling  stream.  I  told 
them  they  might  land  or  not,  as  they  pleased.  I 
would  go  ashore  and  get  assistance  or  information. 
The  old  man  clearly  thought  I  was  going  to  ask  my 
assistance  from  the  father  of  lies  himself.  But  he  was 
resigned  to  my  will,  —  said  he  would  Avait  for  my  re- 
turn. I  stripped  and  waded  ashore  with  my  clothes 
upon  my  head,  dressed  as  quickly  as  I  could,  and 
pushed  up  from  the  beach  to  the  low  upland. 


MY   VISIT   TO   SYBAKIS.  31 

Clearly  enough  I  was  in  a  civilized  country.  Not 
that  there  was  a  gallows,  as  the  old  joke  says  ;  but 
there  were  tracks  in  the  shingle  of  the  beach  showing 
where  wheels  had  been,  and  these  led  me  to  a  cart-track 
between  hioh  growths  of  that  Mediterranean  reed  which 
grows  all  along  in  those  low  flats.  There  is  one  of 
the  reeds  on  the  hooks  above  my  gun  in  the  hall  as 
you  came  in.  I  followed  up  the  track,  but  without 
seeing  barn,  house,  horse,  or  man,  for  a  quarter  of  a 
mile,  perhaps,  when  behold,  — 

Not  the  footprint  of  a  man  !  as  to  Robinson  Cru- 
soe ;  — 

Not  a  gallows  and  man  hanging !  as  in  the  sailor 
story  above  named  ;  — 

But  a  railroad  track  !     Evidently  a  horse-railroad. 

"  A  horse-railroad  in  Italy. !  "  said  I,  aloud.  "  A 
horse-railroad  in  Sybaris !  It  must  have  changed 
since  the  days  of  the  coppersmiths  !  "  And  I  flung 
myself  on  a  heap  of  reeds  wliich  lay  there,  and  waited. 

In  two  minutes  I  heard  the  fast  step  of  horses,  as  I 
supposed  ;  in  a  minute  more  four  mules  rounded  the 
corner,  and  a  "  horse-car  "  came  dashing  along  the 
road.  I  stepped  forward  and  waved  my  hand,  but  the 
driver  bowed  respectfully,  pointed  back,  and  then  to  a 
board  on  top  of  his  car,  and  I  read,  as  he  dashed  by 
me,  the  word 

displayed  full  above  him  ;  as  one  may  read  Complet  on 
a  Paris  omnibus. 


32  SYBAPJS  AND   OTHER   HOMES. 

Now  n\rjpe<i  is  the  Greek  for  full.  "  In  Sybaris 
they  do  not  let  tlie  horse-railroads  grind  the  faces  of 
the  passengers,"  said  I.  "  Not  so  wholly  changed 
since  the  coppersmiths."  And,  within  the  minute, 
more  quadrupedantal  noises,  more  mules,  and  another 
car,  which  stopped  at  my  signal.  I  entered,  and 
found  a  dozen  or  more  passengers,  sitting  back  to 
back  on  a  seat  which  ran  up  the  middle  of  the  car,  as 
you  might  ride  in  an  Irish  jaunting-car.  In  this  way 
it  was  impossible  for  the  conductor  to  smuggle  in  a 
standing  passenger,  impossible  for  a  passenger  to  catch 
cold  from  a  cracked  window,  and  possible  for  a  passen- 
ger to  see  the  scenery  from  the  window.  "  Can  it  be 
possible,"  said  I,  "  that  the  traditions  of  Sybaris  really 
linger  here  ?  " 

I  sat  quite  in  the  front  of  the  car,  so  that  I  could 
see  the  fate  of  my  first  friend  nXT]p€<i,  —  the  full  car. 
In  a  very  few  minutes  it  switched  oif  from  our  track, 
leaving  us  still  to  pick  up  our  complement,  and  then  I 
saw  that  it  dropped  its  mules,  and  was  attached,  on  a 
side  track,  to  an  endless  chain,  which  took  it  along  at 
a  much  greater  rapidity,  so  that  it  was  soon  out  of 
sight.  I  addressed  my  next  neighbor  on  the  subject, 
in  Greek  which  would  have  made  my  fortune  in  those 
old  days  of  the  pea-green  settees.  But  he  did  not 
seem  to  make  much  of  that,  but  in  sufficiently  good 
Italian  told  me,  that  as  soon  as  we  were  full,  we  should 
be  attached  in  the  same  way  to  the  chain,  which  was 
driven  by  stationary  engines  five  or  six  stadia  apart, 


MY   VISIT   TO   SYBARIS.  33 

and  so  indeed  it  proved.  We  picked  up  one  or  two 
market-women,  a  young  artist  or  two,  and  a  little  boy. 
When  the  child  got  in,  there  was  a  nod  and  smile  on 
people's  faces  ;  my  next  neighbor  said  to  me,  TT/Vr/pe?, 
as  if  with  an  air  of  relief;  and  sure  enough,  in  a  min- 
ute more,  we  were  flying  along  at  a  2.20  pace,  with 
neither  mule  nor  engine  in  sight,  stopping  about  once 
a  mile  to  drop  passengers,  if  there  was  need,  and  evi- 
dently approaching  Sybai'is. 

All  along  now  were  houses,  each  with  its  pretty 
garden  of  perhaps  an  acre,  no  fences,  because  no  cattle 
at  large.  I  wonder  if  the  Vineland  peoj)le  know  they 
caught  that  idea  from  Sybaris  !  All  the  houses  were 
of  one  story,  —  stretching  out  as  you  remember  Pliny's 
villa  did,  if  W^are  and  Van  Brunt  ever  showed  you 
the  plans,  —  or  as  Erastus  Bigelow  builds  factories  at 
Clinton.  I  learned  afterwards  that  stair-builders  and 
slaveholders  are  forbidden  to  live  in  Sybaris  by  the 
same  article  in  the  fundamental  law.  This  accounts, 
with  other  things,  for  the  vigorous  health  of  their  wo- 
men. I  supposed  that  this  was  a  mere  suburban  hab- 
it, and,  though  the  houses  came  nearer  and  nearer,  yet 
as  no  two  houses  touched  in  a  block,  I  did  not  know 
we  had  come  into  the  city  till  all  the  passengers  left 
the  car,  and  the  conductor  courteously  told  me  we 
were  at  our  journey's  end. 

When  this  happens  to  you  in  Boston,  and  you  leave 
your  car,  you  find  yourself  huddled  on  a  steep,  sloping 
sidewalk,  under  the  rain  or  snow,  with  a  hundred  or 

2*  O 


34  SYBAEIS   AND   OTHER   HOMES. 

more  other  passengers,  all  eager,  all  wondering,  all  un- 
provided for.  But  I  found  in  Sybaris  a  large  glass- 
roofed  station,  from  which  the  other  lines  of  neighbor- 
hood cars  radiated,  in  which  women  and  even  little 
children  were  passing  from  route  to  route,  under  the 
guidance  of  civil  and  intelligent  persons,  who,  strange 
enough,  made  it  their  busmess  to  conduct  these  people 
to  and  fro,  and  did  not  consider  it  their  duty  to  insult 
the  traveller.  For  a  moment  my  mind  reverted  to 
the  contrast  at  home  ;  but  not  long.  As  I  stood  ad- 
miring and  amused  at  once,  a  bright,  brisk  little  fellow 
stepped  up  to  me,  and  asked  what  my  purpose  was, 
and  which  way  I  would  go.  He  spoke  in  Greek  first, 
but,  seeing  I  did  not  catch  his  meaning,  relapsed  into 
very  passable  Italian,  quite  as  good  as  mine. 

I  told  him  that  I  was  shipwrecked,  and  had  come 
into  town  for  assistance.  He  expressed  sympathy,  but 
wasted  not  a  moment,  led  me  to  his  chief  at  an  office 
on  one  side,  who  gave  me  a  card  with  the  address  of 
an  officer  whose  duty  it  w'as  to  see  to  strangers,  and 
said  that  he  would  in  turn  introduce  me  to  the  chief 
of  the  boat-builders  ;  and  then  said,  as  if  in  apology 
for  his  promptness, 

X/jTj  ^elvov  TrapeovTa  0tXfTi',  (deTiovra  de  TTffXTreiv, — 
"  Welcome  the  coining,  speed  the  parting  guest." 

He  called  to  me  a  conductor  of  the  red  line,  said 
EeVo9,  which  we  translate  guest,  but  which  I  found  in 
this  case  means  "  dead-head,"  or  "  free,"  bowed,  and  I 
saw  him  no  more. 


WY   VISIT   TO   SYBARIS.  35 

"  Strange  country  have  I  come  to,  indeed,"  said  I, 
as  I  thought  of  the  passpons  of  Civita  Vecchia,  of  the 
indifference  of  Scollay's  Buildings,  and  of  the  surhness 
of  Springfield.     "  And  this  is  Sybaris  !  " 

We  sent  down  a  tug  to  the  cove  which  I  indicated 
on  their  topographical  map,  and  to  the  terror  of  the 
old  fisherman  and  his  sons,  to  whom  I  had  sent  a  note, 
which  they  could  not  read,  our  boat  was  towed  up  to 
the  city  quay,  and  Avas  put  under  repairs.  That  last 
thump  on  the  hidden  rock  was  her  worst  injury,  and 
it  was  a  week  before  I  could  get  away.  It  was  in  this 
time  that  I  got  the  information  I  am  now  to  give,  part- 
ly from  my  own  observations,  partly  from  what  George 
the  Proxenus  or  his  brother  Philip  told  me,  —  more 
from  what  I  got  from  a  very  pleasing  person,  the  wife 
of  another  brother,  at  whose  house  I  used  to  visit 
freely,  and  whose  boys,  fine  fellows,  were  very  fond 
of  talking  about  America  with  me.  -  They  spoke  Eng- 
lish very  funnily,  and  like  little  school-books.  The 
ship-carpenter,  a  man  named  Alexander,  was  a  very 
intelligent  person  ;  and,  indeed,  the  whole  social  ar- 
rangement of  the  place  was  so  simple,  that  it  seemed 
to  me  that  I  got  on  very  fast,  and  knew  a  great  deal 
of  them  in  a  very  short  time. 

At  this  point  I  will,  for  greater  convenience,  quote 
directly  from  my  journal.  It  has  the  fault  which  all 
journals  have,  that  their  memoranda  are  apt  to  be  full- 
est when  one  has  the  most  time  to  write,  and  that  they 


36  SYBARIS  AND   OTHER  HOMES. 

are  therefore  most  barren  just  at  those  points  of  crisis 
when  the  writer  really  has  most  to  tell.  This  remark 
will  be  found  near  the  beginnino;  of  "John  Adams's 
Journal,"  of  which  it  is  signally  true.  I  will,  how- 
ever, copy  what  there  is  in  mine.  When  I  find  that 
it  fails,  I  will  do  my  best  to  supply  the  deficiency. 

JOURNAL. 

The  7rpo^euo<;,  Proxenus,  as  this  officer  is  called, 
(officer  whose  business  is  to  care  for  strangers,  quite 
after  the  old  Athenian  system,)  was  very  civil,  though 
a  short-metre  kind  of  person,  used  evidently  to  af- 
fairs in  the  time  of  affairs,  and  to  nothing  else.  He 
offered  Greek  at  first  for  talk,  as  the  man  had  done  at 
the  station ;  but,  finding  I  preferred  Italian,  fell  into 
that  readily.  I  am  too  tired  to-night,  not  to  say 
sleepy,  to  try  to  write  out  much  of  what  he  told  me, 
or  I  told  him.  He  was  very  expeditious,  when  he 
heard  about  the  boat,  in  sending  to  her  relief.  He  led 
me  to  a  good  map  of  the  city  and  harbor  which  hung 
on  the  office  wall,  and  in  five  minutes  had  sent  a  des- 
patch which  he  said  would  fit  out  a  tug  which  would 
bring  the  old  man  and  the  boys  up  to  the  city.  I 
offered  to  go  with  them.  But  he  said  no,' —  that  I 
should  be  of  no  use  there,  —  or  rather  of  none  which 
a  note  from  me  would  not  serve  as  well ;  and  that,  as 
I  must  have  had  a  fatiguing  night,  I  should  be  much 
better  off'  at  my  inn.  I  observed  he  used  the  telegraph 
constantly,  even  sending  his  own   despatches  by  his 


MY   VISIT   TO   SYBARIS.  '37 

own  Instrument,  at  liis  office  desk,  —  writing  as  read- 
ily so  as  I  do  these  words.  In  answer  to  a  question 
of  mine,  lie  said  there  were  delivery  offices  almost 
everywhere,  and  that  they  hardly  ever  had  occasion 
to  use  a  special  messenger.  But,  when  he  wanted  to 
send  my  note  to  the  tug,  and  afterwards  to  send  me 
here,  he  beckoned  to  his  son,  a  tall,  pleasant-looking 
boy,  who  brought  me,  to  show  me  the  way.* 

The  inn  covers  a  good  deal  of  ground  for  the  num- 
ber of  rooms,  but  there  is  not  a  staircase  in  it.  It  Is 
not  larger  than  a  generous  private  house.  The  whole 
is  of  one  story,  as  is  every  other  house  I  have  so  far 
seen  in  Sybaris.  The  mistress  Is  a  jolly-looking  per- 
son, ■who  for  all  her  jollity  seems  careful  and  thought- 
ful, and  desirous  to  be  of  service  ;  and,  without  worry- 
ing me,  she  has  really  made  me  very  comfortable. 
She  knocked  just  now  herself,  and,  in  quite  a  studied 
speech,  said  that  I  was  the  first  American  she  had  ever 
had  here  ;  that  she  was  wholly  unacquainted  with  our 
customs,  but  that  she  would  be  much  obliged  to  me  If 

*  After  I  knew  the  Proxenus  better,  I  told  him  that  this  ready  and 
constant  use  of  the  telegraph  was  one  of  the  first  of  their  conven- 
iences I  noticed.  He  said  the  telegraph  was  an  old  affair  with 
them,  and  he  wondered  other  nations  had  been  so  slow  in  copying  it ; 
that  they  used  it  as  long  ago  as  what  he  called  their  day  of  horrors, 
when  Sybaris  was  crushed  by  the  Crotoniates,  more  than  five  centuries 
before  Christ.  I  wa^  amazed  at  this,  but  in  their  public  library  after- 
wards I  found  in  Pliny  that  that  defeat  was  known  at  Olympia  in 
Greece  on  the  day  it  happened,  and  the  same  statement  is  in  Cicero 
De  Natura  Dcorum.  See  Pliny,  VII.  22.  (i),  and  compare  Plutarch  in 
Paulas  jEmilius,  where  he  names  four  such  incidents. 


88  •  SYBAEIS  AND   OTHER  HOMES.  ^ 

I  would  indicate  to  her  any  improvements  which  the 
inns  of  my  own  country  might  suggest  to  me.  The 
poor  soul  had  been  at  the  pains  to  look  up  "  United 
States  "  in  some  book  of  travels,  and  had  even  writ 
ten  to  the  Proxenus  to  ask  how  she  should  cook  pork 
and  beans  for  me,  and  what  she  should  give  me  in- 
stead of  salt  codfish.  He  had  written  her  a  funny 
note,  which  she  showed  me,  in  which  he  said  that  I 
should  be  satisfied  with  pheasants  and  quails  for  a  day, 
and  that  the  next  day  he  would  tell  her. 

Experience  of  my  own  country  indeed !  There 
was  not  a  fly  in  the  room  where  the  table  d'hote  is 
served,  nor  is  there  in  this  apartment.  This  consists 
of  a  pretty,  airy  sitting-room  with  a  veranda  opening 
from  it,  and  in  the  next  room  the  bed  and  its  appurte- 
nances. I  found  on  the  table  pen,  ink,  and  paper,  which 
I  never  found  ready  in  my  own  room  at  the  Brevoort ;  I 
found  in  the  bedroom  a  foot-tub,  a  shower-bath,  more 
towels  than  I  could  count,  and  hot  and  cold  water  ready 
to  run  for  me.  I  have  not  smelled  a  smell  since  I  came 
into  the  house,  excepting  the  savory  breakfast  and  din- 
ner wliich  she  gave  me,  and  these  lovely  Italian  vio- 
lets which  stand  on  the  writing-table  ;  and,  of  course, 
my  cigar  on  the  veranda.  But  I  shall  write  no  more. 
Now  we  Avill  see  if  there  are  any  smooth  rose-leaves  in 
the  beds  of  Sybaris. 

That  is  the  end  of  that  day's  entry. 

The  Proxenus  came  round  to  see  me  that  first  even- 


MY   VISIT   TO   SYBARIS.  '39 

ing,  and  we  sat,  smoking,  on  the  piazza  together.  I 
remember  I  spoke  with  pleasure  of  the  horse-railroad 
management,  and  asked  as  to  the  methods  they  took 
to  secure  such  personal  comfort. 

He  said  that  my  question  cut  pretty  low  down,  for 
that  the  answer  really  involved  the  study  of  their 
whole  system.  "  I  have  thought  of  it  a  good  deal," 
said  he,  "  when  I  have  been  in  St.  Petersburg,  and  in 
England  and  America  ;  and  as  far  as  I  can  find  out, 
our  peculiarity  in  everything  is,  that  we  respect  — 
I  have  sometimes  thought  we  almost  worshipped  — 
the  rights,  even  the  notions  or  whims,  of  the  individ- 
ual citizen.  With  us  the  first  object  of  the  state,  as 
an  organization,  is  to  care  for  the  individual  citizen,  be 
he  man,  woman,  or  child.  We  consider  the  state  to 
be  made  for  the  better  and  higher  training  of  men, 
much  as  your  divines  say  that  the  Church  is.  Instead 
of  our  lumping  our  citizens,  therefore,  and  treating 
Jenny  Lind  and  Tom  Heenan  to  the  same  dose  of  pub- 
lic schooling,  —  instead  of  saying  that  what  is  sauce 
for  the  goose  is  sauce  for  the  gander,  —  we  try  to  see 
that  each  individual  is  protected  in  the  enjoyment, 
not  of  w^hat  the  majority  likes,  but  of  what  he  chooses, 
so  long  as  his  choice  injures  no  other  man."' 

I  thought,  in  one  whiflf,  of  Stuart  Mill,  and  of  the 
coppersmiths. 

"  Our  horse -rail  road  system  grew  out  of  this  the- 
ory," continued  he.  "  As  long  ago  as  Herodotus, 
people  lived  here  in  houses  one  story  high,  with  these 


40  SYBAKIS  AND   OTHER  HOMES. 

gardens  between.  But  some  generations  ago,  a  young 
fellow  named  Apollidorus,  who  had  been  to  Edin- 
burgh, pulled  down  his  father's  house  and  built  a  block 
of  wdiat  you  call  houses  on  the  site  of  it.  They  were 
five  stories  high,  had  basements,  and  so  on,  with  win- 
dows fore  and  aft,  and,  of  course,  none  on  the  sides. 
The  old  fogies  looked  aghast.  But  he  found  plenty 
of  fools  to  hire  them.  But  the  tenants  had  not  been 
in  a  week  when  the  Kategoros,  district  attorney,  had 
him  up  '  for  taking  away  from  a  citizen  what  he  could 
not  restore.'  This,  you  must  know,  is  one  of  the 
severest  charg-es  in  our  criminal  code. 

"  Of  course,  it  was  easy  enough  to  show  that  the 
tenants  went  willingly  ;  he  showed  dumb-waiters,  and 
I  know  not  what  infernal  contrivances  of  convenience 
within.  ■  But  he  could  not  show  that  the  tenants  had 
north  windows  and  south  windows,  because  they  did 
not.  The  government,  on  their  side,  showed  that 
men  were  made  to  breathe  fresh  air,  and  that  he  could 
not  ventilate  his  houses  as  if  they  were  open  on  all 
sides ;  they  showed  that  women  were  not  made  to 
climb  up  and  down  ladders,  and  to  live  on  stages  at 
the  tops  of  them  ;  and  he  tried  in  vain  to  persuade  the 
jury  that  this  climbing  was  good  for  little  children. 
He  had  lured  these  citizens  into  places  dangei'ous  for 
health,  growth,  strength,  and  comfort.  And  so  he  was 
compelled  to  erect  a  statue  typical  of  strength,  and  a 
small  hospital  for  infants,  as  his  penalty.  That  spir- 
ited Hercules,  which  stands  in  front  of  the  market, 
was  a  part  of  his  fine. 


MY   VISIT    TO   SYBARIS.  "    41 

"  Of  course,  after  a  decision  like  this,  concentration 
of  inliabitants  was  out  of  tlie  question.  Every  pulpit 
in  Sybaris  blazed  "with  sermons  on  the  text,  '  Every 
man  shall  sit  under  his  vine  and  under  his  fig-tree.' 
Everybody  saw  that  a  house  without  its  own  garden 
was  an  abomination,  and  easy  communication  with 
the  suburbs  was  a  necessity. 

"  It  was,  indeed,  easy  enough  to  show,  as  the  city 
engineer  did,  that  the  power  wasted  in  lifting  people 
up,  and,  for  that  matter,  down  stairs,  in  a  five-story 
house,  in  one  day,  would  carry  all  those  people  I  do 
not  know  how  many  miles  on  a  level  railroad  track  in 
less  time.  What  you  call  horse-railroads,  therefore, 
became  a  necessity." 

I  said  they  made  a  great  row  with  us. 

"  Yes,"  said  he,  "  I  saw  they  did.  With  us  the  gov- 
ernment owns  and  repairs  the  track,  as  you  do  the  track 
of  any  common  road.     We  never  have  any  difficulty. 

"  You  see,"  he  added  after  a  pause,  "  with  us,  if 
a  conductor  sprains  the  ankle  of  a  citizen,  it  is  a  mat- 
ter the  state  looks  after.  With  you,  the  citizen  must 
himself  be  the  prosecutor,  and  virtually  never  is.  Did 
you  notice  a  pretty  winged  Mercury  outside  the  sta- 
tion-house you  came  to  ?  " 

I  had  noticed  it. 

"  That  was  put  up,  I  don't  know  how  long  ago,  in 
the  infancy  of  tliese  things.  They  took  a  car  off  one 
night,  without  public  notice  beforehand.  One  old 
man  was  coming  in  on  it,  to  his  daughter's  wedding. 


42  SYBAEIS   AND    OTHER   HOMES. 

He  missed  his  connection  out  at  Little  Krastis,  and 
lost  half  an  hour.  Down  came  the  Kategoros.  The 
company  had  taken  from  a  citizen  what  they  could 
not  restore,  namely,  half  an  hour." 

George  liglited  anotlier  cigar,  and  laughed  very 
heartily.  "  That 's  a  great  case  in  our  reports,"  he  said. 
"  The  company  ventured  to  go  to  trial  on  it.  They 
hoped  they  might  overturn  the  old  decisions,  which 
were  so  old  that  nobody  knows  when  they  were  made, 
—  as  old  as  the  dancing  horses,"  said  he,  laughing. 
"  They  said  time  was  not  a  thing,  —  it  was  a  relation 
of  ideas ;  that  it  did  not  exist  in  heaven ;  that  they 
could  not  be  made  to  suffer  because  they  did  not  de- 
liver back  what  no  man  ever  saw,  or  touched,  or  tasted. 
What  was  half  an  hour?  But  the  jury  was  pitiless. 
A  lot  of  business  men,  you  know,  —  they  knew  the 
value  of  time.  What  did  they  care  for  the  metaphys- 
ics ?  And  the  company  was  bidden  to  put  up  an 
appropriate  statue  worth  ten  talents  in  front  of  their 
station-house,  as  a  reminder  to  all  their  people  that  a 
citizen's  time  was  worth  something." 

I  observed  a  queer  thing  two  or  three  times  in  this 
visit  of  the  Proxenus.  Just  at  this  point  he  rose  rather 
suddenly  and  bade  me  good  evening.  I  begged  him 
to  stay,  but  had  to  repeat  my  invitation  twice.  His 
hand  was  on  the  handle  of  tlie  door  l^efore  he  turned 
back.  Then  he  sat  down,  and  we  went  on  talking; 
but  before  lono;  he  did  the  same  thino;  again,  and  then 
'again. 


MY   VISIT   TO   SYBARIS.  43 

At  last  I  was  provoked,  and  said :  "  What  is  the 
custom  of  your  country  ?  Do  you  liave  to  take  a  walk 
every  eleven  minutes  and  a  quarter  ?  " 

George  laucrhed  ajiain,  and  indeed  blushed.  "  Do 
you  know  what  a  bore  is  ?  "  said  he. 

"Alas!  I  do,"  said  I. 

"  Well,"  said  he,  "  the  universal  custom  here  is, 
that  an  uninvited  guest,  who  calls  on  another  man  on 
his  own  business,  rises  at  the  end  of  eleven  minutes, 
and  offers  to  go.  And  the  courts  have  ruled,  very 
firmly,  that  there  must  be  a  bona  fide  effort.  We  get 
into  such  a  habit  of  it,  that,  with  you,  I  really  did  it 
unawares.  The  custom  is  as  old  as  Cleisthenes 
and  his  wedding.  But  some  of  the  decisions  are  not 
more  than  two  or  three  centuries  old,  and  they  are 
very  funny. 

"  On  the  whole,''  he  added,  "  I  think  it  works  well. 
Of  course,  between  friends,  it  is  absurd,  but  it  is  a 
great  protection  against  a  class  of  people  who  think 
their  own  concerns  are  the  only  things  of  value.  You 
see  you  have  only  to  say,  when  a  man  comes  in,  that 
you  thank  him  for  coming,  that  you  wish  he  would 
stay,  or  to  take  his  hat  or  his  stick,  —  you  have  only 
to  make  him  an  invited  guest,  —  and  then  the  rule 
does  not  hold." 

"  Ah  !  "  said  I ;  "  then  I  invite  you  to  spend  every 
evening  with  me  while  I  am  here." 

"  Take  care,"  said  he  ;  "  the  Government  Almanac 
is  printed  and  distributed  gratuitously  from  the  fines 


44  SYBARIS   AND   OTHER  HOMES. 

on  bores.  Their  funds  are  getting  very  low  up  at  tha 
department,  and  they  will  be  very  sharp  on  your 
friends.  So  you  need  not  be  profuse  in  your  invi- 
tations. 

This  conversation  was  a  clew  to  a  good  many 
things  which  I  saw  while  I  was  in  the  city.  I  never 
was  in  a  place  where  there  were  so  many  tasteful, 
pretty  little  conveniences  for  everybody.  At  the 
quadrants,  where  the  streets  cross,  there  was  always  a 
pretty  little  sheltered  seat-  for  four  or  five  people,  — 
shaded,  stuffed,  dry,  and  always  the  morning  and 
evening  papers,  and  an  advertisement  of  the  times  of 
boats  and  trains,  for  any  one  who  might  be  waiting  for 
a  car  or  for  a  friend.  Sometimes  these  were  votive 
offerings,  where  public  spirit  had  spoken  in  gratitude. 
More  often  they  had  been  ordered  at  the  cost  of  some 
one  who  had  taken  from  a  citizen  what  he  could  not 
repay.  The  private  citizen  might  often  hesitate  about 
prosecuting  a  bore,  or  a  nuisance,  or  a  conceited  com- 
pany officer.  But  the  Kategoroi  made  no  bones  about 
it.  They  called  the  citizen  as  a  witness,  and  gave 
the  criminal  a  reminder  which  posterity  held  in  awe. 
Their  point,  as  they  always  explained  it  to  me,  is,  that 
the  citizen's  health  and  strength  are  essential  to  the 
state.  The  state  cannot  afford  to  have  him  maimed, 
any  more  than  it  can  afford  to  have  him  drunk  or 
ignorant.  The  individual,  of  course,  cannot  be  fol- 
lowing up  his   separate  grievances   with  people   who 


MY   VISIT   TO   SYBARIS.  45 

abridge  his  rights.  But  the  pubhc  accuser  can  and 
does. 

With  us,  public  servants,  who  know  they  are  pubhc 
servants,  are  always  obliging  and  civil.  I  would  not 
ask  better  treatment  in  my  own  home  than  I  am  sure 
of  in  Capitol,  State-house,  or  city  hall.  It  is  only 
when  you  get  to  some  miserable  sub-bureau,  where 
the  servant  of  the  servant  of  a  creature  of  the  state 
can  bully  you,  that  you  come  to  grief.  For  instance, 
the  State  of  Massachusetts  just  now  forbids  corpora- 
tions to  work  children  more  than  ten  hours  a  day. 
The  corporations  obey.  But  the  overseers  in  the 
rooms,  whom  the  corporations  employ,  work  children 
eleven  hours,  or  as  many  as  they  choose.  They  would 
not  stand  that  in  Sybaris. 

Such  were  my  first  day's  observations.  I  now  re- 
sume the  Journal  of  which  I  have  spoken. 

Friday,  9th  Kal.  &apjr)Xc(ov.  —  Everything  seems 
to  be  new  here.  Place,  language,  and  all  are  changed, 
—  and  so  my  old  book  for  these  memoranda  gave  out 
last  night,  and  I  have  had  to  rummage  up  another 
from  my  stores.  Fortunately  the  traps  came  up  from 
the  boat  even  before  I  was  awake  this  mornino;.  One 
does  sleep  Avell  in  such  a  bed,  —  without  steam-whis- 
tles or  cockerels  or  brass-founders.  It  was  as  quiet  as 
the  mid-country. 

The  calendar  is  as  new  as  the  book  (of  which  the 
paper  is  not  half  as  good  as  the  old  was).     It  seems 


46  SYBARIS   AND    OTHER   HOMES. 

an  odd  mixture  of  Italian  and  Greek,  and  I  do  not 
yet  understand  it.  -But  I  put  at  the  top  of  the  page 
what  the  Proxenus  tells  me  to,  were  it  only  for  prac- 
tice. This  is,  he  says,  the  ninth  of  the  Kalends  of 
Thargelion,  but  he  counts  it  Friday,  as  I  did.  For 
my  part,  I  thought  the  Greeks  had  no  Kalends ;  but 
it  would  seem  that  the  Sybarites  have. 

It  has  been  a  rainy  day,  but  I  have  managed  with 
their  convenient  arrangements  here  to  do  about  ten 
times  as  much  as  I  should  have  done  at  home.  If  I 
do  not  get  too  sleepy,  I  will  go  into  a  little  more  detail 
than  I  have  been  apt  to  do  since  the  campaign  began. 
The  peculiarity  of  this  place  seems  to  be,  that  every- 
body has  plenty  of  time. 

I  slept  late  after  the  excitement  of  the  night  before, 
and  if  the  lady  Myrtis's  nice  mattresses  are  made  of 
rose-leaves,  none  of  the  leaves  were  crumpled.  I 
rang,  as  I  had  been  bidden,  as  soon  as  I  woke ;  and  a 
ravishing  cup  of  coffee  appeared  almost  on  the  mo- 
ment, on  the  strength  of  which  I  dressed  slowly,  and 
went  down  to  the  table  d'hote.  Breakfast  was  very 
nicely  served  ;  but  I  do  not  stop  to  describe  it,  because 
some  rainy  day  I  will  make  a  chapter  on  the  cookery 
of  Sybaris,  so  different  from  that  of  our  Sicilian  allies; 
alas !  so  different  from  the  taverns  of  my  beloved 
New  England.  While  I  was  at  breakfast  there  came 
in  this  clever  little  note  in  this  pretty  Greek  Hand- 
schrift  from  the  Proxenus,  whose  name,  it  appears,  is 
George :  — 


MY   VISIT   TO   SYBARIS.  47 

[Translation.] 

Office  of  the  Proxencs, 
Sybaris,  9th  Kal.  Thar. 

Colonel  Ixgham,  &c.,  &c.  :  — 

Dear  Sir,  —  The  report  from  Pylades,  chief  of 
boat-builders,  is  that  your  boat  will  require  a  new 
stern-post  as  well  as  rudder,  and  that  one  whole 
streak  on  her  larboard  side  must  be  renewed.  She 
was  ordered  to  the  government  works  last  night,  and 
the  men  undoubtedly  went  to  Avork  on  her  this  morn- 
ing. 

I  shall  have  the  pleasure  of  calling  on  you  at  seven 
minutes  after  noon,  when  I  shall  be  relieved  from  of- 
fice duty  here.  If  you  have  no  pleasanter  engage- 
ment, let  me  take  you  in  my  carriage  to  see  our 
granite  quarries  and  to  bathe.  We  can  do  this  before 
dinner.  My  wife  will  be  very  happy  if  you  will  join 
our  family  party  at  four. 

Farewell, 

George,  tJie  Proxenus. 

What  his  other  name  is,  I  do  not  yet  know.  They 
seem  to  sign  like  English  bishops. 

I  strayed  round  a  little  before  noon,  and  made  a  lit- 
tle sketch  of  a  seat  for  passengers  waiting  for  the  street 
railroad  cars.  At  twelve  I  rendered  myself  on  the 
hotel  veranda,  and  at  seven  minutes  past  the  Proxe- 
nus drove  up  in  a  pretty  covered  buggy,  with  a  nice 
little   trotting   mare.     He   apologized  for  the  cover ; 


48  SYBARIS   AND    OTHER   HOMES. 

said,  if  tlie  clay  had  been  fine  he  could  have  shown  me 
more  of  the  country,  but  as  it  rained,  why,  we  must 
e'en  bear  it  as  we  could. 

We  drove  first  to  the  granite  quarries,  which  are 
worked  with  great  precision  by  a  fine-looking  set  of 
men,  who  have  much  more  of  the  Lombard,  not  to 
say  Yankee,  look  about  them  in  their  promptness  of 
movement  than  I  have  seen  anywhere  else  in  South- 
ern Italy,  Then  the  Proxenus  asked  me  if  I  were 
used  to  swimming  as  early  as  this  in  the  season. 
When  I  said  there  were  few  seasons  and  few  waters  in 
which  I  did  not  swim,  and  that  I  should  greatly  enjoy 
a  plunge,  he  turned  his  horse's  head,  and  we  drove,  by 
a  charming  up-and-down-hill  drive,  I  should  think  six 
miles,  down  the  old  course  of  the  Crastis  River  till  we 
came  to  a  signal-station,  —  what  one  might  call  Watch 
Hill,  —  where  was  a  beautiful  view  of  the  gulf,  grand 
bluifs,  smooth  beaches,  and  a  fine  surf  for  bathers.  It 
almost  seemed  as  if  we  had  been  expected.  A  quaint 
old  fisherman  fastened  the  horse  to  a  fence,  provided 
towels,  pointed  out  two  little  sheds  for  undressing,  and 
we  had  a  brisk  swim  in  the  surf.  How  delicious  this 
Mediterranean  water  is,  swept  off  the  Syrtes  by  that 
tremendous  Euroclydon  !  I  hardly  thought  yesterday 
morning  that  I  should  be  speaking  of  it  so  good- 
naturedly. 

Home  to  dinner.  The  Proxenus  said  his  wife 
would  excuse  my  frock-coat.  And  at  his  house,  at 
dinner,  and  in  the  garden,  and  on  the  veranda,  I  have 


MY   VISIT   TO   SYBARIS.  49 

stayed  ever  since,  till  now.     The  family  was  charming, 

—  his  wife  sweet  pretty  (reminds  you  of  S G ), 

and  seven  children,  —  four  boys,  three  girls,  —  my 
friend  James,  who  showed  me  the  way  yesterday,  be- 
ing the  second  son.  He  and  I  are  great  friends,  and 
his  father  says  I  may  take  him  from  the  office  any  day 
when  I  want  a  guide.  The  girls  have  pretty  Greek 
faces,  —  the  youngest  about  as  big  as  little  Fan-fan, 
only  her  name  is  Anna,  say  nine  years  old. 

As  for  the  dinner,  I  leave  that  till  I  can  write  the 
essay  on  cookery  into  which  the  breakfast  is  to  go. 
But  I  do  not  wonder  that  that  old  fellow  took  his 
cooks  with  him  when  he  went  from  here  to  Athens. 

It  was  not  exactly  the  family  party  which  the  note 
promised.  The  Chief  Justice  was  there,  —  who,  if  1 
understand,  is  the  cousin  of  my  hostess,  —  and  his 
pretty  wife  ;  a  young  man  named  Joannes  Isocrates, 
whom  I  accused  of  being  a  great-grandson  of  the  ora- 
tor ;  and  Philip,  the  brother  of  the  Proxenus.  It  was 
a  round  table  for  twelve.  Some  of  the  children  had 
to  sit  at  a  side  table,  and  they  were  very  merry 
there. 

The  talk  was  very  ready  and  free,  —  generally  gen- 
eral ;  but  sometimes  I  got  oflp  into  a  separate  private 
talk  with  Kleone  —  as  I  shall  begin  to  call  George's 
wife  —  and  with  the  Chief  Justice's  wife.  Her  hus- 
band calls  her  Lois.  We  sat  long  at  table,  spending 
more  than  half  the  time  over  the  fruit  and  coffee. 
There  was  no  wine.     The  dessei't,  however,  had  been 

3  D 


60  SYBAEIS   AND    OTHER   HOMES. 

served  in  another  room  than  that  we  ate  the  meats 
in.  We  passed  from  room  to  room,  as  we  used  to 
when  we  dined  with  Howqua,  at  Canton.  And  in 
the  new  room  we  did  not  take  the  same  places  as 
before. 

I  said,  in  the  course  of  talk,  tliat  either  they  were 
all  very  much  at  leisure  here,  or  that  I  had  taken  an 
unconscionable  amount  of  George's  time 

He  laughed,  and  said  he  could  well  believe  that,  as 
I  had  said  that  I  was  brought  u-p  in  Boston.  "  When 
I  was  there,"  said  he,  "  I  could  see  that  your  people 
were  all  hospitable  enough,  but  that  the  people  who 
were  good  for  anything  were  made  to  do  all  the  work 
of  the  vauriens,  and  really  had  no  time  for  friendship 
or  hospitality.  I  remember  an  historian  of  yours,  who 
crossed  with  me,  said  that  there  should  be  a  motto 
stretched  across  Boston  Bay,  from  one  fort  to  another, 
with  the  words,  '  No  admittance,  except  on  business.'  " 

I  did  not  more  than  half  like  this  chaffing  at  Bos- 
ton, and  asked  how  they  managed  things  in  Sybaris. 

"  Why,  you  see,"  said  he,  "  we  hold  pretty  stiffly  to 
the  old  Charondian  laws,  of  which  perhaps  you  know 
something  ;  here  's  a  copy  of  the  code,  if  you  would 
like  to  look  over  it,"  and  he  took  one  out  of  his  pock- 
et. "  We  are  still  very  chary  about  amendments  to 
statutes,  so  that  very  little  time  is  spent  in  legislation  ; 
we  have  no  bills  at  shops,  and  but  little  debt,  and  that 
is  all  on  honor,  so  that  there  is  not  much  account- 
keeping    or    litigation  ;    you   know   what    hr.pp.'ns    to 


MY    VISIT   TO   SYBARIS.  51 

gossips,  —  gossip  takes  a  good  deal  of  time  elsewhere, 
—  and  someho^A^  everybody  does  his  share  of  work,  so 
that  all  of  us  do  have  a  good  deal  of  what  you  call 
'  leioure.'  Whether,"  he  added  pensively,  "  in  a 
Avorld  God  put  us  into  that  we  might  love  each  other, 
and  learn  to  love,  —  whether  the  time  we  spend  in 
society,  or  the  time  we  spend  caged  behind  our  office 
desks,  is  the  time  which  should  be  called  devoted  to 
the  '  business  of  life,'  that  remains  to  be  seen." 

"  How  came  you  to  Boston,"  said  I,  "  and  when  ?  " 

"  O,  we  all  have  to  travel,"  said  George,  "  if  we 
mean  to  go  into  the  administration.  And  I  liked  ad- 
ministration. I  observe  that  you  appoint  a  foreign 
ambassador  because  he  can  make  a  good  stump  speech 
in  Kentucky.  But,  since  Charondas's  time,  training 
has  been  at  the  bottom  of  our  system.  And  no  man 
could  offer  himself  here  to  serve  on  the  school  com- 
mittee, unless  he  knew  how  other  nations  managed 
their  schools." 

"  Not  if  he  had  himself  made  school-books  ?  " 
said  I. 

"  No ! "  laughed  George,  "  for  he  might  introduce 
them.  With  us  no  professor  may  teach  from  a  text- 
book he  has  made  himself,  unless  the  highest  council 
of  education  order  it ;  and,  on  the  same  principle,  we 
should  never  choose  a  bookseller  on  the  school  com- 
mittee. And  so,  to  go  back,"  he  said,  "  wlien  my 
father  found  that  administration  was  my  passion,  he 
sent   me  the  grand  tour.     I  learned  a  great  deal  in 


52  SYBARIS   AND   OTHER   HOMES. 

America,  and  am  very  fond  of  the  Americans.  But  I 
never  saw  one  here  before." 

I  did  not  ask  what  he  learned  in  America,  for  I  was 
more  anxious  to  learn  myself  how  they  administered 
government  in  Sybaris. 

The  Chief  Justice  said  that  he  thought  George 
hardly  answered  my  question.  He-  said  that  their  sys- 
tem compelled  everybody  to  do  what  he  could  do  best, 
and  to  a  large  extent  secured  this  by  inviting  people 
to  do  what  they  could  do  best.  A  messenger  in  a 
public  office,  for  instance,  is  invariably  a  man  who  has 
legs  and  a  tongue,  but  who  has  no  arms.  That  is,  if 
such  a  place  is  vacant,  search  is  at  once  made  for  some 
person  who-  shall  fill  this  place  well ;  and  if  he  can 
show  that  there  is  no  other  place  he  can  fill,  on  that 
showing  he  is  almost  sure  of  the  appointment.  "  We 
have  not  a  copying-clerk  in  the  Court-House,"  said 
the  Chief  Justice,  "  who  has  two  legs.  Most  of  them, 
in  fact,  have  no  tongues,  which  is  a  convenience." 
Starting  from  this,  as  George  had  said,  it  followed  that 
there  were  no  vauriens,  and  of  course  the  amount  of 
work  fell  lighter  on  each.  But  this  is  not  the  whole. 
Custom  in  part,  statute  in  part,  and  in  part  this  terri- 
ble verdict  which  they  all  so  dread,  —  the  verdict  of 
dpTrayfioi  they  call  it,*  —  have  so  wrought  on  them 

*  The  verdict  of  apnayfxos  is  that  alluded  to  above.  It  is  given  on 
an  indictment  brought  by  the  state's  attorney  in  a  criminal  court.  It 
means,  "  He  has  taken  from  a  citizen  what  he  cannot  restore."  The 
derivation  reminds  one  of  our  action  of  assumpsit,  but  they  carry  it 
further  than  we  do. 


MY   VISIT   TO   SYBARIS.  53 

tliat  they  destroy  very  little  -which  they  have  once 
created.  "  Time  will  do  that  for  lis,"  said  Philip, 
lauo;hing.  "  My  rear  wall  tumbles  down  fast  enough 
without  niy  helping  the  fall." 

I  said  I  remembered  that  Judge  Merrick  said  that, 
if  the  thousand  million  men  now  in  the  world  could 
be  set  to  work  in  intelHgent  organized  labor,  they 
could  in  a  generation  duplicate  the  present  monu- 
ments of  the  race  of  men.  The  existing  farms,  roads, 
bridges,  ships,  piers,  cities,  villages,  and  all  the  rest, 
could  .be  produced  in  one  generation.  All  the  other 
generations  have  been  spent  in  men's  cutting  each 
other's  throats,  and  in  destroying  what  other  people 
have  been  at  work  upon. 

The  Chief  Justice  said  this  was  undoubtedly  true. 
They  tried  as  far  as  they  could  to  prevent  such  waste 
of  life,  and  to  a  large  extent  he  thought  they  succeeded. 
The  solidity  of  their  building  is  such  that  they  have 
dwelling-houses  which  have  been  occupied  as  such  for 
two  thousand  years. 

I  said  that  in  London  they  had  told  me  their  houses 
tumbled  down  in  eighty. 

"  Exactly,"  said  the  Chief  Justice,  "  and  what  a 
waste  tliat  is  !  When  my  father  was  in  London,  they 
M-cre  greatly  delighted  with  a  system  of  sewers  they 
had  just  turned  into  the  Thames.  When  I  was  there, 
they  were  as  much  delighted,  because  they  had  dis- 
covered a  method  of  leading  their  contents  away  from 
the  Thames." 


64  SYBARIS   AND   OTHER   HOMES. 

"  When  my  father  was  in  Boston,"  said  George, 
"  they  were  all  very  proud  to  show  him  their  success 
in  digging  down  their  highest  hill.  When  I  was  there 
they  were  building  it  up  to  the  old  height,  to  make  a 
reservoir  on  top  of  it." 

"  We  have  come  to  the  conclusion,"  said  the  Chief 
Justice,  "  that  it  is  rather  dangerous  interferino;  much 
with  nature.  That  is  to-say,  when  a  large  body  of  men 
have  nestled  down  in  a  region,  it  was  probably  about 
what  they  wanted.  If  one  of  them  tries  to  mend,  he 
is  apt  to  mar.  We  had  a  fellow  over  on  the  Crastis 
there,  who  was  stingy  about  using  ateam-power ;  so  he 
made  a  great  high  dam  on  the  river,  —  and,  by  Jupi- 
ter, Colonel  Ingham,  five  hundred  thousand  people  lost 
their  fish  because  that  fellow  chose  to  spin  cotton  a 
ten-millionth  part  of  a  drachma  cheaper  than  the  rest 
of  mankind." 

"  He  got  dp7rayfxo<;  with  a  vengeance,"  growled 
Philip,  who  is  a  little  touchy. 

"  He  got  dpTrajfjio'i,^^  said  the  Chief  Justice,  "and 
he  had  to  put  in  fish-ways.  You  must  take  our  friend 
out  to  see  the  fish  go  up  his  stairways,  George.  But 
what  happened  at  Ptestum  was  worse  than  that. 
They  had  some  salt  marshes  there,  —  what  they  call 
flats.  They  undertook  to  fill  them  up  so  as  to  get 
land  in  place  of  water.  They  got  more  than  they 
bargained  for.  They  disturbed  the  natural  flow  of  the 
currents,  and  they  lost  their  harbor.  Land  is  plenty 
in  Paestum  now.     The  last  time  I  was  there  the  popu- 


MY    VISIT   TO   SYIjIkIS.  55 

lation  was  two  owls  and  four  lizards,  aud  there  was 
never  a  rose  within  five  miles !  " 

I  called  him  back  to  talk  of  this  universal  occupa- 
tion, resulting  in  universal  leisure.  He  said  I  should 
understand  it  better  after  I  had  been  about  a  little.  I 
said  we  had  difficulty  at  both  ends,  —  the  poorest  peo- 
ple did  not  know  how  to  work,  and  the  richest  peojile 
were  ai)t  not  to  want  to,  and  did  not  know  what  to  do. 
I  said  I  was  at  one  time  secretary  of  the  "  Society  for 
providing  Occupation  for  the  Higher  Classes."  He 
said,  as  to  the  first  they  clung  to  the  old  apprentice- 
ship system.  Every  child  must  be  taught  to  do  some- 
thing. .  If  the  parents  cannot  teach,  somebody  else 
does.  The  other  difficulty  he  had  seen  in  travelling, 
but  he  did  not  believe  it  was  necessary.  They  have 
here  but  few  very  large  fortunes  transmitted  from 
fither  to  son.  They  have  no  such  transmission  by 
will,  and  unless  a  man  has  given  away  his  property 
before  his  death  the  state  becomes  his  executor.  Of 
course  in  practice,  except  in  cases  of  sudden  death, 
people  are  their  own  executors.  Then  they  give 
every  man  and  woman  who  is  over  sixty-five  a  small 
pension,  — enough  to  save  anybody  from  absolute 
want.  They  insist  on  it  that  this  is  the  most  conven- 
ient arrangement.  They  know  almost  nothing  of 
drunkenness  ;•  and  what  follows  is,  that  everybody 
does  something  somewhere. 

As  the  chief  explained  this  to  me,  I  saw  his  wife 
and  Philip  were  laughing  about  something,  and  when 


56  SYBARIS   AND   OTHER  HOMES. 

tlie^  learned  talk  was  done  Philip  made  her  tell  me 
what  it  was.  It  was  the  story  of  one  of  their  attempts 
to  save  time,  which  had  not  succeeded  so  well.  Two 
or  three  enterprising  fellows,  in  those  arts  which  rank 
as  the  disagreeable  necessities,  went  into  partnership, 
offering  to  their  customers  the  saving  of  time  gained 
by  getting  through  the  minor  miseries  together.  You 
sat  in  a  chair  to  have  your  hair  cut,  and  a  dentist  at 
the  same  time  filled  your  teeth.*  Then  you  were 
permitted  at  the  same  time  to  have  any  man  up  who 
wanted  to  read  his  poems  to  you,  and  you  could  hear 
them  as  you  sat.  While  the  dentist  was  rolling  up 
the  gold,  they  had  a  photograph  man  ready  to  take 
your  likeness.  Lois  declared  she  would  show  me  a 
likeness  of  her  husband  that  was  so  savage  she  was 
sure  it  was  taken  there.  But  of  course  this  was  running 
the  thing  into  'the  ground.  It  was  only  an  exaggera- 
tion, and  did  not  last  after  the  novelty  was  gone. 

I  said  they  certainly  had  got  the  right  m.en  in  the 
right  places  in  administration,  as  far  as  I  had  seen, 
bowing  to  the  Proxenus. 

He  parried  the  compliment  by  pretending  to  think 
I  meant  the  railroad  people,  and  said  I  was  right  there, 
that  they  had  a  very  good  staff  in  the  transportation 
department. 

I  said  that  we  had  tried  the  experiment,  in  some 
cases,  of  placing  idiots  in  charge   of   the  minor  rail- 

*  I  believe  a  part  of  the  plan  was  to  have  a  chiropodist  look  ai  jour 
feet ;  but  at  table  they  did  not  speak  of  that. 


MY    VISIT   TO   SYBARIS.  57 

way  stations,  and  to  drive  the  little  railway  caos  or 
flies  from  such  stations.  He  said  he  had  observed  this 
in  America,  but  he  should  not  think  it  would  work 
well.  I  said  the  passengers  generally  knew  what  they 
wanted,  —  that  we  had  an  excellent  class  of  men  as 
train  conductors,  and  that  these  idiots  must  be  put 
somewhere.  Yes,  he  said,  but  that  you  never  could 
tell  what  station  might  be  important  ;  that  I  might 
depend  upon  it  it  was  cheaper  in  the  long  run  to  have 
a  man  competent  for  the  full  conceivable  duty  of  the 
place,  even  if  we  had  to  pay  him  something  more. 

About  eight  o'clock  I  bowed  myself  out.  George 
walked  home  with  me,  and  again  we  had  a  cigar  on 
the  veranda.  They  raise  their  own  tobacco,  in  some, 
cross  valleys  they  have,  running  east  and  west,  and  the 
cigars  are  splendid,  —  real  Vuelta  d'Abajo,  I  should 
have  thought  them.  But  of  course,  under  such  laws, 
no  man  can  smoke  in  the  streets  or  in  a  crowd. 

Saturdaij^  Qap'^rfkioyv,  StJi  Kal.  —  A  fine  day.  But 
I  find  one  does  not  rise  very  early  in  the  morning. 

Spent  the  morning  from  nine  to  twelve  with  the 
Chief  Justice  in  court.  Business  very  prompt,  very 
interesting,  of  which  more  at  another  time.  I  have  full 
notes  of  all  the  cases,  in  the  printed  briefs  which  the 
Judge  gave  me.  At  twelve  the  court  closed  with 
absolute  promptness.  All  their  public  offices  of  admin- 
istration work  four  public  hours,  as  they  say.  But  an 
office  where  one  calls  for  information  —  as  the  Post- 
3* 


58  SYBARIS   AND   OTHER   HOIIES. 

Office,  the  Public  Library,  or  any  of  the  charities  — 
is  open  night  and  day  the  century  round.  The  Pub- 
lic Library  has  not  been  closed,  they  say,  since  He- 
rodotus wrote  there.  They  showed  me  his  pen,  and 
the  place  where  he  sat.  This  seems  a  little  mythical'. 
Of  course  the  same  people  are  not  on  duty.  But 
they  say  there  is  no  harm  in  changing  clerks  on  duty. 
There  can  be  no  secrets  then,  no  false  accounts,  no 
peculation,  and  no  ruts.  At  all  events,  they  say,  that 
if  a  man  chooses  to  go  and  read  at  thi'ee  in  the  morn- 
ing, he  has  a  right  to  ;  and  that  the  Post-Office  is 
established  for  the  convenience  of  the  citizen,  and  not 
for  that  of  the  clerks,  which  certainly  seems  true. 

The  Chief  Justice,,  at  twelve,  said  he  was  at  my 
service ;  and  at  my  request  he  took  me  to  the  Public 
Library,  where  Ave  spent  a  couple  of  hours,  —  of  which 
at  another  time.  We  then  called  at  his  liouse,  where 
we  found  his  wife  and  daughters  just  entering  their 
carriage.  We  did  not  leave  his  little  wagon,  but  all 
drove  off  together.  The  object  was  again  a  bath, 
with  a  chowder  and  fish  dinner  at  a  little  extemporized 
sea-shore  place.  The  drive  Avas  charming,  and  the 
bath  Elysium.  The  ladies  bathed  with  us.  I  compli- 
mented Mrs.  Lois,  as  I  led  her  down  into  the  surf,  on 
their  punctuality,  —  saying  that  they  had  not  kept  us 
waiting  an  instant.  But  she  hardlv  understood  me. 
"  Why  should  we  have  kept  you  ?  "  said  she.  "  I  had 
a  despatch  at  noon  from  my  husband,  proposing  that 
we  should  all  start  at  two."     And  when  I  asked  if 


MY   VISIT   TO   SYBARIS.  59 

tliey  had  been  waiting,  "  Why  should  we  have  been 
waiting  ?  "  said  she.  "  We  all  knew  you  were  not  to 
be  at  home  before  two."  The  Chief  Justice  laughed 
and  said :  "  People  are  so  used  to  punctuality  here, 
that  Lois,  who  is  a  home-body,  hardly  knows  what 
you  are  talking  about.  The  truth  is,  that,  if  she  had 
kept  you  thirty  seconds,  while  she  went  back  for  her 
gloves,  she  would  have  been  afraid  of  apTray/zo? ; 
and  these  girls,  —  why,  if  one  of  their  watches  had 
been  a  twenty-thousandth  part  of  a  second  wrong  when 
the  ball  fell  at  noon  to-day,  I  should  have  had  no  peace 
till  I  had  bought  such  a  love  of  a  diamond-mounted 
little  repeater  that  there  is  at  Archippus's."  And  he 
laughed  at  his  joke  heartily,  and  the  girls  said,  "  O 
papa !  " 

Girls  and  boys,  men  and  women,  all  swim  like 
fishes,  —  taught  at  a  very  early  age.  No  scholar  is 
permitted  to  go  forward  in  any  school  after  seven  years 
of  age,  unless  he  can  swim,  just  as  we  require  vacci- 
nation. "  If  you  mean  to  be  at  the  charge -of  train- 
ing them,"  said  the  Chief  Justice,  "  it  is  a  pity  to  have 
them  drowned,  just  when  they  are  fit  for  anything." 
And  so  we  had  a  brisk,  jolly  swim,  and  dressed,  and 
went  to  old  Strepsiades's  little  cabin,  where  were  fish 
baked,  fish  broiled,  fish  cooked  in  every  which  way  con- 
ceivable, hot  from  the  coals,  and  we  with  the  real  sea 
appetite.  We  lounged  round  on  the  bluffs  and  shore  for 
an  hour  or  two,  the  girls  sketched  and  botanized  a  little, 
and  by  another  pretty  drive  we  came  home.     I  took 


60,  SYBARIS  AND   OTHER  HOMES. 

a  cup  of  tea  with  them,  came  back  here  to  dress,  and 
they  then  called  for  me  and  took  me  to  a  pretty  dan- 
cing-party. But  I  am  too  tired  to  write  it  out  to-night. 
Xacpe. 

Sunday,  Ith  Kal.  Tharg.  —  We  have  a  lovely  morn- 
ing. I  have  this  pretty  little  note  from  the  charming 
Kleone,  asking  me  whether  I  will  go  to  their  little 
parish  church  or  to  the  more  grand  cathedral  service. 
Of  course  I  have  elected  the  parish  church  with  them 
at  eleven.  Meanwhile,  I  seize  this  half-hour  to  fill 
out  one  or  two  gaps  above. 

I  see  I  have  said  nothing  about  their  going  and 
coming.  The  sidewalks  are  all  well  laid  ;  and  I  have 
tlius  far  been  nowhere  where,  on  one  side  of  the  way 
at  least,  there  was  not  one  in  perfect  order.  But  I 
can  see  that  they  are  very  much  tempted  not  to  walk ; 
and  I  think  they  get  their  exercise  more  in  rowing, 
swimming,  riding,  drill,  and  so  on.  This  shows  itself 
in  the  fine  chests  of  boys  and  girls,  men  and  women. 
Not  only  are  the  public  conveyances  admirable,  and 
dog-cheap,  —  very  rapid  too,  so  that  you  feel  as  if  you 
could  hardly  afford  to  walk,  —  but  they  have  any  num- 
ber of  little  steam  dog-carts,  which  run  on  the  public 
rail,  or,  if  necessary,  on  the  hard  Macadam  road. 
The  fuel  is  naphtha,  or  what  we  call  petroleum  ;  the 
engines  are  really  high- pressure,  but  the  discharge- 
pipe  opens  into  a  chamber  kept  very  cold  by  freezing 
mixtures,  which  you  can  change  at  any  inn.     Philip 


MY    VISIT   TO  SYBARIS.  61 

who  told  me  about  these  things,  says  they  are  used, 
not  so  much  as  being  better  than  horses,  but  as  an 
economy  for  that  immense  class  of  people  who  keep 
no  servants,  do  not  choose  to  be  slaves  to  a  coachman, 
have  no  one  to  care  for  a  horse,  or  indeed  do  not  want 
the  bother.  This  little  steam-wagon  stands  in  a  shed 
at  the  back  of  the  house.  Whoever  fills  the  other 
lamps  fills  and  trims  the  wicks  of  their  burners.  When 
you  sit  down  to  breakfast,  you  light  the  lamps.  And 
when  your  breakfast  is  done,  steam  is  up,  and  you  can 
drive  directly  to  your  store  or  office.  While  you  are 
there,  it  stands  a  month  if  you  choose,  and  is  a  bill  of 
expense  to  nobody.  It  gives  the  roads  a  very  brisk 
look  to  see  these  little  things  spinning  along  every- 
where. 

The  party  last  night  was  charming  in  the  freshness 
and  variety  and  ease  of  the  whole  thing.  I  hope  the 
host  and  hostess  enjoyed  it  as  much  as  I  did,  and  they 
seemed  to.  How  queer  the  effect  of  this  individuality 
is  when  you  come  to  see  it  in  costume !  Of  course 
the  whole  thing  was  Greek.  You  saw  that,  from  the 
girls'  faces  down  to  the  buckles  of  their  slippers.  But 
then  the  individual  right,  to  which  everything  I  have 
seen  in  Sybaris  seems  dedicated,  appeared  all  through, 
and  fairly  made  the  whole  seem  like  a  fancy  ball.  If 
I  thought  of  Gell's  Greek  costumes,  it  was  only  to 
think  how  he  would  have  stared  if  anybody  had  told 
him  that  a  hundred  and  fifty  miles  from  Naples,  would 
he  only  risk  the  cutting  of  his  throat  by  brigands,  he 


62  SYBARIS   AND   OTHEE   HOMES. 

might  see  the  thing*  illustrated  so  prettily.     I  danced 
with Philip  has  come  to  take  me  to  church. 

Finished  the  same  evening.  —  It  was  a  pretty  little 
church,  —  quite  open  and  airy  it  would  seem  to  us,  — 
excellent  chance  to  see  dancing  vines,  or  flying  birds, 
or  falling  rains,  or  other  "  meteors  outside,"  if  the 
preacher  proved  dull  or  the  hymns  undevout.  But 
I  found  my  attention  was  well  held  within.  Not  that 
the  preaching  was  anything  to  be  repeated.  The  ser- 
mon was  short,  unpretending,  but  alive  and  devout. 
It  was  a  sonnet,  all  on  one  theme  ;  that  theme  pressed, 
and  pressed,  and  pressed  again,  and,  of  a  sudden,  the 
preacher  was  done.  "  You  say  you  know  God  loves 
you,"  he  said.  "I  hope  you  do,  but  I  am  going  to 
tell  you  once  more  that  he  loves  you,  and  once  more 
and  once  more."  What  pleased  me  in  it  all  was  a 
certain  unity  of  service,  from  the  beginning  to  the  end. 
The  congregation's  singing  seemed  to  suggest  the 
prayer  ;  the  prayer  seemed  to  continue  in  the  sym- 
phony of  the  organ  ;  and,  while  I  was  in  revery,  the 
organ  ceased ;  but  as  it  was  ordered,  the  sermon  took 
up  the  theme  of  my  revery,  and  so  that  one  theme  ran 
through  the  whole.  The  service  was  not  ten  things, 
like  the  ten  parts  of  a  concert,  it  was  one  act  of  com- 
munion or  worship.  Part  of  this  was  due,  I  guess,  to 
this,  that  we  were  in  a  small  church,  sitting  or  kneeling 
near  each  other,  close  enough  to  get  the  feeling  of  com- 
munion, —  not  parted,  indeed,  in  any  way.     We  had 


MY   MSIT   TO   SYBARIS.  63 

been  talking  together,  as  we  stood  in  the  churchyard 
before  the  service  began,  and  when  we  assembled  in 
tlie  church  the  sense  of  sympathy  continued.  I  told 
Kleone  that  I  liked  the  home  feeling  of  the  churcli, 
and  she  was  pleased.  She  said  she  was  afraid  I  should 
have  preferred  the  cathedral.  There  were  four  hirge 
cathedrals,  open,  as  the  churches  were,  to  all  the  town  ; 
and  all  the  clergy,  of  whatever  order,  took  turns  in 
conducting;  the  service  in  them.  There  were  seven 
successive  services  in  each  of  them  that  Sunday.  But 
each  clergyman  had  his  own  special  charge  beside,  — 
I  should  think  of  not  more  than  a  hundred  families. 
And  these  families,  generally  neighbors  in  the  town 
indeed,  seemed,  naturally  enough,  to  grow  into  very 
familiar  personal  relations  with  each  other. 

Father  Thomas,  as  they  all  call  him,  took  me  home 
to  his  house  to  dinner.  He  had  one  of  those  little 
steam-wagons  which  I  have  described,  of  which  there 
were  sixty-five  standing  in  the  grounds  around  the 
church.  His  wife  and  children  went  home  in  a  lai'ge 
one.  As  soon  as  the  doxology  was  sung  and  the  ben- 
ediction pronounced,  tlie  sexton  went  round  with  a 
lantern  and  lighted  their  lamps,  and  while  we  stood 
round  talking  in  the  porch,  the  steam  was  got  up,  so 
that  I  suppose  everybody  was  off  in  twenty  minutes. 
Father  Thomas  said  the  talk  then  and  there,  in  the 
church  and  in  the  porch,  was  one  of  the  most  satis- 
factory parts  of  the  whole  service,  and  was  pleased 
when  I  quoted  ^r;  eyKaraXenrovre'i  rrjv  eTriavvayoiyrju 


64  SYBARIS  AND   OTHER  HOMES. 

eavTwv*  1  said  I  had  never  heard  the  Greek  of  the 
Greek  Testament  read  in  service  before.  He  said 
that  the  people  all  followed,  with  entire  interest  and 
understanding  of  it,  though  it  is  not  as  near  their 
Greek  as  our  Bible  is  to  modern  English,  and  probably 
never  would  be.  For  they  regard  their  Greek  as 
being  better  than  the  Attic  Greek  of  Demosthenes's 
time,  —  and  of  course  they  will  not  cede  an  inch 
towards  the  Alexandrianisms  of  late  centuries.  "  In- 
deed," said  he,  "  the  Academy  and  the  Aristarchs  are 
a  deal  too  stiff  about  it.  They  are  very  hard  on  us 
theologues,  and  seem  to  me  absurd." 

Father  Thomas's  house  is  one  such  as  they  say  there 
are  a  great  many  of,  which  show  their  only  concession 
to  a  community  system.  With  all  this  intense  indi- 
vidualism, one  can  see  that  Robert  Owen  would 
hang  himself  here.  But  Father  Thomas  says  this  ar- 
rangement works  well,  and  is  a  great  economy  both  in 
time  and  money.  Four  houses,  each  with  its  half-acre 
garden,  standing  near  each  other,  there  is  built,  just  on 
the  corner  where  the  lots  meet,  a  central  house,— 
fjLeaoLKia,  they  call  it,  —  for  the  common  purposes  of 
the  four.  There  is  one  kitchen,  and  they  unite  in 
hiring  one  cook,  who  gets  up  all  the  meals  for  the  four 
several  families  in  their  own  homes,  according  to  their 
several  directions.  There  is  one  large  playroom  for 
the  children.  I  asked  if  there  were  one  nurse  ;  but 
he  said,  not  generally,  though  families  settled  that  as 

*  '■  Not  forsaking  the  assembling  of  ourselves  together." 


MY   VISIT   TO   SYBARIS.  65 

they  chose.  What  he  laid  most  stress  on  was  one 
book-room  or  hbrary  for  the  four.  And  certainly  this 
was  a  lovely  room.  There  were  four  bookcases, — 
one  on  each  side,  —  which  held  severally  the  books  of 
the  four  families.  All  Father  Thomas's  were  together. 
But,  in  the  long  run,  it  happened  that  none  of  them 
duplicated  the  other's  books,  so  far  as  they  kept  them 
in  this  room.  There  would  be  but  one  Herodotus, 
one  Dante,  one  Shakespeare,  one  French  Dictionary, 
for  the  four.  Then  this  room  made  a  pleasant  place 
of  reunion  amono;  the  families,  without  mutual  invita- 
tion,  and  without  the  feeling  that  you  might  be  boring 
the  others.  Indeed,  I  spent  the  evening  there,  —  as 
will  appear,  if  this  naiTative  ever  comes  down  to  the 
evening. 

In  the  afternoon  I  had  a  long  walk  with  Father 
Thomas  in  his  parish.  We  went  first  to  one  of  the 
four  cathedrals,  where  he  had  the  three  o'clock  ser- 
vice. The  congregation  was  from  all  parts  of  the 
town  and  neighborhood,  —  many  people  attending 
there,  he  said,  who  never  went  to  any  of  the  parish 
churches.  The  different  clergymen  take  these  ser 
vices  in  order.  I  should  think  there  were  four  or  five 
thousand  persons  here.  The  service  lasted  an  hour, 
and  he  then  took  me  from  place  to  place  with  him, 
showing  me,  as  he  said,  how  people  lived.  And  so  I 
have  had,  in  very  short  time,  insight  into  a  wider 
range  of  homes  than  I  have  ever  had  in  Europe. 
Everywhere  comfort,  and  the  most  curious  illustra- 
tions of  what  comfort  is.  e 


.66  SYBARIS   AND    OTHER   HOMES. 

Their  system  seems  to  give  more  definiteness  to  the 
work  of  the  clergy  and  of  the  churches  than  ours 
does.  Thus  Father  Thomas  preaches  regularly  in  the 
church  I  was  in  this  morning  (t?}9  Zwrj'i  alcoviov  is  its 
name,  — the  Church  of  Life  Eternal).  There  gather 
perhaps  a  hundred  families,  from  all  parts  of  the  city 
and  neighborhood.  And,  as  I  understand  it,  his  rela- 
tions to  them  are  much  like  those  of  one  of  our  Con- 
gregational ministers  to  his  jflock,  —  say  Haliburton's 
to  his  in  Cairo,  or  mine  to  my  people  when  I  was  set- 
tled in  Naguadavick.  But  this  is  rather  a  personal 
relation  between  him  and  these  people,  who  have,  so  to 
speak,  gravitated  towards  him.  He  preaches  there 
usually  once  every  Sunday,  and,  as  I  understand  it, 
our  practice  of  exchanging  pulpits  is  wholly  unknown. 
They  wovild  be  as  much  surprised,  on  going  into  the 
"  Church  of  Life  Eternal,"  to  find  any  minister  but 
Father  Thomas,  as  they  would  be,  on  going  into  court 
for  the  trial  of  a  case,  to  find  that  the  counsel  they  had 
eno-acred  had  made  an  "  exchange  "  with  some  other 
man,  who  had  come  to  plead  in  his  place.  As  I  have 
said,  the  service  here  seems  to  be  regarded,  at  law  at 
least,  as  a  secondary  part  of  the  matter.  This  Church 
of  Life  Eternal  is  regarded  as  in  a  thousand  ways  re- 
sponsible for  a  Avhole  i^o/^o?  or  territorial  district,  in 
one  corner  of  which,  indeed,  it  stands.  It  is  exactly 
like  the  theory  of  our  territorial  parish ;  but  they  do 
not  use  the  word  "parish,"  Trapot/tta,  or  rather  they 
use  it  for  a  different  thing.     Everybody  in  the  nomos 


MY   VISIT   TO   SYBARIS.  67. 

of  "  Life  Eternal,"  numbering  say  four  hundred  fam- 
ilies, is  vindor  the  oversight,  not  so  much  of  Father 
Thomas,  as  of  all  the  committees,  visitors,  deacons, 
deaconesses,  and  people  with  names  unknown  to  me, 
who  are  the  workers  of  this  church.  "  Under  the 
oversight "  means  that  this  church  would  be  disgraced 
if  there  were  a  typhus-fever  district  in  this  nomos,  or 
if  a  family  starved  to  death  here,  or  if  there  were  a 
drunken  row.  It  would  be  considered  that  the  church 
of  the  nomos  was  not  doino;  the  thing  for  which 
churches  are  established  here. 

Father  Thomas  reminded  me  that,  in  the  newspa- 
per reports  of  criminal  trials,  I  always  see,  next  the 
name  of  the  offender,  the  name  of  his  nomos,  as 
"South  Congregational,"  "  St.  Paul's,"'"  Old  North," 
"Disciples',"—  "Life  Eternal,"  said  he,  "  if  we  had 
been  so  unlucky.  But  none  of  our  people  have  been 
before  the  court  for  thirty-one  years.  In  consequence," 
he  said,  "  if  such  a  misfortune  did  happen  to  us,  I 
should  not  hear  the  last  of  it  for  a  month.  Every 
man  I  met  in  the  street  would  stop  me  to  sympathize 
with  me ;  and  I  should  know  that  people  considered 
that  we  had  made  some  bad  mistake  in  our  arrange- 
ments, if  we  should  have  a  series  of  such  things  hap- 
pen. Of  course,  we  cannot  help  people's  throwing 
themselves  away.  But  it  is  supposed  that,  if  Chris- 
tianity means  anything,  it  means  that  Jesus  Christ 
came  to  take  away  the  sins  of  the  world;  and  this 
church  is  regarded  as  his  representative,  at  least  so  far 


68  SYBARIS   AND   OTHER  HOMES. 

as  that  vulgar  or  concrete  form  of  sin  goes  which  men 
call  crime." 

I  take  it  this  arrangement  by  which  a  fixed  organi- 
zation is  responsible  in  every  locality  for  the  preven- 
tion of  poverty  and  the  prevention  of  crime  has  a 
great  deal  to  do  with  the  curious  insignificance  of  their 
criminal  business  in  the  courts. 

I  am  terribly  tired,  but  feel  as  if  I  understood  them 
a  little  better  than  I  did  yesterday.     Xaipe. 

Monday^  6th. — A  busy  day;  but,  warned  by  yes- 
terday, I  have  not  fagged  myself  out  as  I  did  then. 
Or,  rather,  I  ought  to  say,  I  have  taken  their  advice, 
instead  of  living  in  my  own  fashion.  I  am  really  be- 
coming a  Sybarite  myself,  and  therefore  sit  down  here 
at  9.30  at  night,  n©t  dead  knocked  up  by  the  day's 
work,  as  a  Yankee  would  be,  and  as  I  was  yesterday. 

The  programme  was,  breakfast  with  the  boat-builder 
Pylades  ;  then  to  go  through  the  schools  with  Kleone, 
who  takes  a  good  deal  of  interest  in  them  ;  to  drive 
and  bathe  with  Philip's  people ;  to  dine  with  the  An- 
gelides,  —  nice  people  whom  I  met  at  the  party,  Fri- 
day, —  and  with  them  go  to  their  theatre,  where  their 
daughters  were  to  act.  All  this  is  over,  and  I  am 
here  at  9.30,  as  before  said. 

They  make  much  account  of  breakfast  parties.  I 
noticed  on  Saturday,  that  the  Chief  Justice  said  he 
liked  to  see  people  before  they  had  begun  to  go  to 
sleep,  and  that  most  people  did  begin  to  go  to  sleep  at 


MY   VISIT   TO   SYBARIS.  69 

noon.  Here  was,  at  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning,  a 
charming  party,  just  evenly  divided  between  men  and 
women,  round  a  large,  circular  table,  in  a  beautiful 
room  opening  on  a  veranda.  The  table  blazed  with 
flowers,  and  even  with  early  fruit  from  the  forcing- 
houses.  I  took  out  Kleone,  but  the  talk  was  gen- 
eral. 

I  asked  Philip  how  long  his  brother  would  remain 
in  the  office  of  Proxenus.  Philip  turned  a  little 
sharply  on  me,  and  asked  if  I  had  any  complaints  to 
make.  I  soothed  him  by  explaining  that  all  that  I 
asked  about  was  the  term  of  office  in  their  system, 
and  he  apologized. 

"  He  will  be  in  as  long  as  he  chooses,  probably.  In 
theory  he  remains  in  until  a  majority  of  the  voters, 
which  is  to  say  the  adult  men  and  women,  join  in  a 
petition  for  his  removal.  Then  he  will  be  removed  at 
once.  The  government  will  appoint  a  temporary  sub- 
stitute, and  order  an  election  of  his  successor." 

"  Do  you  mean  there  is  no  fixed  election-day  ?  " 

"  None  at  all,"  said  Philip.  "  We  are  always  vot- 
ing. When  I  left  you  yesterday  afternoon  I  went  in 
to  vote  for  an  alderman  of  our  ward,  in  place  of  a  man 
who  has  resigned.  I  wish  I  had  taken  you  in  with 
me,  though  there  was  nothing  to  see.  Only  three  or 
four  great  books,  each  headed  with  the  name  of  a  can- 
didate. I  wrote  my  name  in  Andrew  Second's  book. 
He  is,  on  the  whole,  the  best  man.  The  books  will  be 
open  three  months.     No  one,  of  course,  can  vote  more 


70  SYBARIS   AND   OTHER  HOMES. 

than  once,  and  at  the  end  of  that  time  there  will  be  a 
count,  and  a  proclamation  will  be  made.  Then  about 
removal ;  any  one  who  is  dissatisfied  with  a  public  offi- 
cer puts  his  name  up  at  the  head  of  a  book  in  the  elec- 
tion office.  Of  course  there  are  dozens  of  books  all 
the  time.  But  unless  there  is  real  incapacity,  nobody 
cares.  Sometimes,  when  one  man  wants  another's 
place,  he  gets  up  a  great  breeze,  the  newspapers  get 
hold  of  it,  and  everybody  is  canvassed  who  can  be  got 
to  the  spot.  But  it  is  very  hard  to  turn  out  a  competent 
officer.  If  in  three  months,  however,  at  all  the  regis- 
tries, a  majorit}^  of  the  voters  express  a  wish  for  a 
man's  removal,  he  has  to  go  out.  Practically,  I  look 
in  once  a  week  at  that  office  to  see  what  is  going  on. 
It  is  something  as  you  vote  at  your  clubs." 

"  Did  you  say  women  as  well  as  men  ?  "  said  I. 

"  O  yes,"  said  Philip,  "  unless  a  woman  or  a  man 
has  formally  withdrawn  from  the  roll.  You  see,  the 
roll  is  the  list,  not  only  of  voters,  but  of  soldiers.  For 
a  man  to  withdraw,  is  to  say  he  is  a  coward  and  dares 
not  take  his  chance  in  war.  Sometimes  a  woman  does 
not  like  military  service,  and  if  she  takes  her  name  off 
I  do  not  think  the  public  feeling  about  it  is  quite  the 
same  as  with  a  man.  She  may  have  things  to  do  at 
home." 

"  But  do  you  mean  that  most  of  the  women  serve 
in  the  army  ?  "  said  I. 

"  Of  course  they  do,"  said  he.  "  They  wanted  to 
vote,  so  we  put  them  on  the  roll.     You  do  not  see 


MY    VISIT   TO   SYBARIS!  71 

tliem  much.  Most  of  tlie  women's  regiments  are 
heavy  artillery,  in  the  forts,  Avhich  can  be  worked  just 
as  well  by  persons  o^  less  as  of  more  muscle  if  you 
have  enouo-h  of  them.  Each  reo-iment  in  our  service 
is  on  duty  a  month,  and  in  reserve  six.  You  know 
we  have  no  distant  posts." 

"  We  have  a  great  many  near-sighted  men  in 
America,"  said  I,  "  who  cannot  serve  in  the  army." 

"  We  make  our  near-sighted  men  work  heavy  guns, 
serve  in  light  artillery,  or,  in  very  bad  cases,  we  de- 
tail them  to  the  police  work  of  the  camps,"  said  he. 
"  The  deaf  and  dumb  men  we  detail  to  serve  the  mili- 
tary telegraphs.  They  keep  secrets  well.  The  blind 
men  serve  in  the  bands.  And  the  men  without  legs 
ride  in  barouches  in  state  processions.  Everybody 
serves  somewhere." 

"  That  is  always  the  reason,"  said  I,  with  a  sigh, 
"  why  everybody  has  so  much  time  in  Sybaris  !  " 

Being  so  much  with  Kleone,  —  spending,  indeed, 
an  hour  quietly  at  their  house,  after  our  school  tramp, 
and  before  we  went  to  bathe,  —  I  got  a  chance  to  ask 
her  about  household  administration.  I  did  not  know 
whether  things  did  go  as  easily  as  they  seemed,  or 
whether,  as  with  most  households,  when  strangers  are 
visiting  for  a  time,  they  seemed  to  go  easier  than  they 
did.  But  I  think  there  cannot  be  much  deception 
about  it.  Kleone  is  not  in  the  least  an  actress,  and 
she  certainly  wondered  that  I  thought  there  could  be 
so  much  difficulty.     She  finally  took  me  out  into  her 


72  SYBARIS   AND   OTHER  HOMES. 

kitchen,  pantry,  and  so  on,  and  showed  me  the  whole 
niacliine. 

I  do  not  understand  it  a  great  deal  better  than  I  did 
before.  But  here  are  a  few  central  facts.  First,  no 
washing  of  clothes  is  done  in  any  private  house.  For 
every  thirty  or  forty  families  there  is  one  laundry, — 
Xovrpov  they  call  it ;  and  the  people  there  send  twice 
a  week  for  the  soiled  linen,  and  return  it  clean  at  the 
end  of  forty-eight  hours.  Kleone  said  that  these  es- 
tablishments were  so  small  that  she  knew  all  the  work- 
people at  that  near  hers;  and  if  she  had  any  special^ 
directions  to  give,  she  ran  in  and  told  what  she  wanted. 
Of  course  they  could  have  all  the  mechanism  they 
wanted,  —  large  mangles,  steam-dryers,  folding-ma- 
chines, and  so  on.  Next,  I  should  think  their  public 
baking  establishments  must  be  better  than  ours.  Kle- 
one no  more  thought  of  makino;  her  own  bread  than 
my  Polly  thinks  of  making  her  own  candles.  "  I  can 
make  it,"  said  she,  with  a  pretty  air ;  "  but  what  's 
the  good  (t&)  Ka\a>^,  when  I  know  they  do  it  as  well 
as  I  ? "  For  other  provant,  there  is  the  universal 
trattoria  system  of  all  Italy,  carried  on  with  the  neat- 
ness and  care  of  individual  right,  not  to  say  whim, 
which  I  find  everywhere  here. 

I  took  care  to  ask  specially  about  servants,  and  the 
ease  or  difficulty  of  finding  and  of  training  them. 
Here  Kleone  was  puzzled.  It  was  evident  she  had 
never  thought  of  the  matter  at  all,  any  more  than  she 
iiad  thought  of  water-supply,  or  of  who  kept  the  streets 


MY   VISIT   TO   SYBARIS.  73 

clean.  But,  after  a  good  deal  of  pumping  and  cross- 
questioning,  I  came  at  some  notion  of  why  this  was 
all  so  easy.  In  the  first  place,  there  is  not  a  very 
great  amount  of  what  we  call  menial  service  to  be 
done  in  establishments  where  there  are  no  stairs,  no 
washing,  no  ironing,  no  baking,  no  moving,  few  lamps 
to  fill,  little  dusting  or  sweeping  (because  all  roads 
and  streets  here  are  watered),  few  errands,  and  little 
sickness.  But  Kleone  did  not  in  the  least  wink  out 
of  sight  the  fact  that  there  was  regular  service  to 
be  done,  and  that  it  did  not  do  itself.  But,  as  she 
said,  "  as  no  girl  goes  to  school  between  fourteen  and 
eighteen,  and  no  boy  or  girl  ever  goes  to  school  more 
than  .half  the  time,  —  as  no  girl  under  eighteen  or 
boy  under  twenty-one  is  permitted  to  work  in  the  fac- 
tories, or  indeed  anywhere  unless  at  home,  —  there  is 
an  immense  force  of  young  folks  who  must  be  doing 
something,  and  must  be  trained  to  do  something. 
You  see,"  said  Kleone,  "  no  girl  is'  married  before 
she  is  eighteen,  and  perhaps  she  may  not  be  married 
before  she  is  twenty-five.  From  these  unmarried  wo- 
men, who  are  of  age  after  they  are  eighteen,  we  may 
hire  servants.  And  we  may  receive  into  our  houses 
girls  under  that  age,  if  only  we  exact  no  duties  of 
them  but  those  of  home.  Now,  if  you  will  think," 
said  she,  "  in  any  circle  of  a  hundred  people,  —  say 
in  any  family  of  brothers,  sisters,  and  cousins,  —  there 
are  enough  young  people  to  do  all  this  work  you  ask 
about.     All  we    have  to  do  is  to  exchange  a  little. 

4 


74  SYBAKIS   AND   OTHER  HOMES. 

That  pretty  girl  who  let  you  in  at  the  door  is  a  cousin 
of  my  husband's  who  is  making  a  long  three  months' 
visit  here,  —  glad  to  come,  indeed,  for  it  is  a  little 
quiet,  I  think,  at  Trcezene,  where  her  people  live.  I 
do  not  pretend  to  be  a  notable  housekeeper  you  know ; 
but  if  I  were,  I  should  have  any  number  of  girls' 
mothers  asking  me  if  I  would  not  have  them  here  to 
stay,  and  they  would  do  most  of  my  dusting  and  bed- 
making  for  me.  Elizabeth,  whom  I  believe  you  have 
not  seen,  is  the  only  person  I  hire,  in  the  house.  She 
will  be  married  next  year,  but  there  are  plenty  more 
when  she  goes." 

Speaking  of  Sophia's  letting  me  in  at  the  door, 
there  is  a  pretty  custom  about  door-bells.  To  save 
you  from  fumbling  round  of  a  dark  evening,  the  bell- 
pulls  are  made  from  phosphorescent  wood,  or  some  of 
them  of  glass  with  a  glow-worm  on  a  leaf  inside,  so 
that  you  always  see  this  little  knob,  and  know  where 
to  put  your  hand. 

The  plays  were  as  good  and  bright  as  they  could  be. 
The  theatre  is  small,  but  large  enough  for  ordinary 
voices  and  ordinary  eyes.  There  are  ever  so  many 
of  them.  Then  the  actors  and  actresses  were  these 
very  people  whom  I  have  been  meeting,  or  their  chil- 
dren, or  their  friends.  The  Chief  Justice  himself 
took  a  little  part  this  evening,  and  that  pretty  Lydia, 
his  daughter,  sang  magnificently.  She  would  be  a 
'prima  donna  assoluta  over  at  Naples  yonder.  Father 
Thomas's  daughter  is  a  contralto.     She  does  not  sing 


MY   VISIT   TO   SYBAEIS.  75 

SO  well.  I  do  not  suppose  the  Chief  is  often  on  the 
stage  ;  but  he  was  there  to-night,  just  as  he  might  be 
at  a  Christmas  party  in  his  own  house.  He  said  to 
me,  as  he  walked  home  with  me  :  "  We  are  not  going 
to  let  this  thing  slip  into  the  hands  of  a  lot  of  irrespon- 
sible people.  As  it  stands,  it  brings  the  children 
pleasantly  together ;  and  they  always  have  their  en- 
tertainments where  their  fathers  and  mothers  do." 

A  funny  thing  happened  as  we  left  the  play.  A 
sudden  April  shower  had  sprung  up,  and  so  we  found 
the  porches  and  passage-ways  lined  with  close-stacked 
umbrellas  ;  they  looked  like  muskets  in  an  armory. 
Every  gentleman  took  one,  and  those  of  the  ladies  who 
needed.  Ane'elides  handed  one  to  me.  It  seems  that 
the  city  owns  and  provides  the  umbrellas.  When  I 
came  to  the  inn,  I  pvat  mine  in  the  hall,  and  that  was 
the  last  I  shall  see  of  it.  But  I  have  inquired,  and  it 
seems  that,  as  soon  as  the  rain  is  over,  the  agent  for  this 
district  will  come  round  in  a  wagon  and  collect  them. 
If  it  rain  any  day  when  I  am  here,  a  waiter  from  the 
inn  will  run  and  fetch  me  one.  I  shall  carry  it  till  the 
rain  is  over,  and  then  leave  it  anywhere  I  choos(\ 
The  agent  for  that  district  will  pick  it  up,  and  place 
it  in  the  umbrella-stand  for  the  nomos.  In  case  of  a 
sudden  shower,  as  this  to-night,  it  is,  of  course,  their 
business  to  supply  churches  or  theatres. 

I  have  noticed  another  good  thing  about  umbrellas. 
A  man  in  front  of  me  that  day  it  rained  had  a  letter 
to  post  at  a  box  which  was  on  a  street-lamp.     If  he 


76  SYBARIS  AND   OTHER  HOMES. 

had  had  to  hold  his  umbrella  with  one  hand,  —  to  open 
the  box  with  another,  and  to  drop  in  the  letter  with  a 
third,  it  would  have  been  awkward,  for  he  had  but  two 
hands.  So  they  had  made  the  cover  of  the  box  with  a 
ring  handle,  —  he  opened  it  with  his  umbrella  hand, 
catching  the  ring  with  the  hook  of  the  umbrella,  — 
and  posted  his  letter  with  his  other  hand. 

Tuesday,  5th.  —  Fine  again.  I  have  been  with  the 
boys  a  good  deal  to-day.  They  took  me  to  one  or 
two  of  the  gymnasiums,  to  one  of  the  swimming- 
schools,  to  the  market  for  their  nomos,  and  afterwards 
to  an  up-town  market,  to  the  picture-gallery,  ttivuko- 
Orj/cr),  and  museum  of  yet  another  nomos,  which  they 
thought  was  finer  than  theirs,  and  to  their  own  sculp- 
ture-gallery. 

As  we  walked  I  asked  one  of  them  if  I  was  not 
keeping  him  from  school. 

"  No,"  said  he,  "  this  is  my  off-term."  % 

"  Pray,  what  is  that  ?  " 

"Don't  you  know ?  We  only  go  to  school  three 
months  in  winter  and  three  in  summer.  I  thought 
you  did  so  in  America.  I  know  Mr.  Webster  did.  I 
read  it  in  his  Life." 

I  was  on  the  point  of  saying  that  we  knew  now  how 
to  train  more  powerful  men  than  Mr.  Webster,  but 
the  words  stuck  in  my  throat,  and  the  boy  rattled  on. 

"  The  teachers  have  to  be  there  all  the  tirh'e,  except 
when  they  go  in  retreat.     They  take  turns  about  re- 


MY   VISIT   TO   SYBARIS.  77 

treat.  But  we  are  in  two  choroi ;  I  am  choros-boy 
now,  James  is  anti-choros.  Choros  have  school  in 
January,  February,  March,  July,  August,  September. 
Next  year  I  shall  be  anti-choros." 

"  Which  do  you  like  best,  —  ofF-term  or  school  ?  " 
said  I. 

"  O,  both  is  as  good  as  one.  When  either  begins, 
we  like  it.  We  get  rather  sick  of  either  before  the 
three  months  are  over." 

"What  do  you  do  in  your  off-terms?"  said  I, — 
"go  fishino;?  " 

"  No,  of  course  not,"  said  he,  "  except  Strep,  and 
Hipp,  and  dial,  and  those  boys,  because  their  fathers 
are  fishermen.  No,  we  have  to  be  in  our  fathers'  of- 
fices, we  big  boys  ;  the  little  fellows,  they  let  them 
stay  at  home.  If  I  was  here  without  you  now,  that 
truant-officer  we  passed  just  now  would  have  had  me 
afliome  before  this  time.  Well,  you  see  they  think  we 
learn  about  business,  and  I  guess  we  do.  I  know  I  do," 
said  he,  "  and  sometimes  I  think  I  should  like  to  be  a 
Proxenus  when  I  am  grown  up,  but  I  do  not  know." 

I  asked  George  about  this,  this  evening.  He  said 
the  boy  was  pretty  nearly  right  about  it.  They  had 
come  round  to  the  determination  that  the  employment 
of  children,  merely  because  their  wages  were  lower  than 
men's,  was  very  dangerous  economy.  The  chances 
were  that  the  children  were  overworked,  and  that 
their  constitution  was  fatally  impaired.  "  We  do  not 
want  any  Manchester-trained  children  here."     Then 


78  SYBARIS  AND   OTHER  HOMES. 

they  had  found  that  steady  brain-work  on  girls,  at  the 
growing  age,  was  pretty  nearly  slow  murder  in  the 
long  run.  They  did  not  let  girls  go  to  school  with 
any  persistency  after  they  were  twelve  or  fourteen. 
After  they  were  twenty  they  might  study  what  they 
chose. 

"  But  the  main  difference  between  our  schools  and 
yours,"  said  he,  "  is  that  your  teacher  is  only  expected 
to  hear  the  lesson  recited.  Our  teacher  is  expected  to 
teach  it  also.  You  have  in  America,  therefore,  sixty 
scholars  to  one  teacher.  We  do  not  pretend  to  have 
more  than  twenty  to  one  teacher.  We  do  this  the 
easier  because  we  let  no  child  go  to  school  more  than 
half  the  time  ;  nor,  even  with  the  strongest,  more  than 
four  hours  a  day. 

"  Why,"  said  he,  "  I  was  at  a  college  in  America 
once,  where,  with  splendid  mathematicians,  they  had 
had  but  one  man  teach  any  mathematics  for  thirty 
years.  And  he  was  travelling  in  Europe  when  I  was 
there.  The  others  only  heard  the  recitations  of  those 
who  could  learn  without  being  taught." 

"  I  was  once  there,"  said  I. 

....  We  bathed  in  the  public  bath  for  this  nomos, 
which  is  not  the  same  as  George's.  The  boys  took 
me  home  with  them  to  dine,  and  George  came  round 
here  this  evening.  We  have  had  pleasant  talk  with 
some  lemon  and  t)range  farmers  from  the  country. 

I  have  not  said  anywhere  that  their  acquajuoU  are 


MY   VISIT   TO   SYBARIS.  79 

everywhere  in  the  streets ;  and  a  little  acid  in  the 
water,  with  plenty  of  ice  and  snow,  seems  to  take 
away  the  mania  for  wine  or  liquor,  just  as  it  does  in 
Naples.  The  temperance  of  Naples  is  due,  not  to  the 
sour  wine  people  talk  of,  for  the  laboring  men  do  not 
drink  that,  but  to  the  attractive  provision  made  of 
other  drinks.  And  it  is  very  much  so  here.  These 
acquajuoU  are  just  like  those  in  Naples. 

But  here  no  street  cuts  another  at  right  angles. 
There  is  always  a  curve  at  the  corner,  with  a  chord 
of  a  full  hundred  feet.  This  enables  them  to  have 
narrower  streets,  —  no  street  is  more  than  fifty  feet 
between  the  sidewalks,  —  and  it  gives  pretty  stands 
for  the  fruit-sellers  and  lemonade-sellers  at  the  quad- 
rants. There  is  iced  water  free  everywhere,  and  de- 
licious coffee  almost  free. 

Wednesday^  Ath.  —  As  soon  as  breakfast  was  over, 
I  went  down  to  Pylades,  the  boat-builder.  I  own  it, 
I  am  distressed  to  say  that  he  is  exactly  in  time,  and 
the  boat,  to  all  purposes,  is  repaired.  She  is  a  much 
better  boat  than  she  ever  was  before.  They  know  no 
such  thing  as  a  mechanic  being  an  hour  late  in  his  per- 
formance of  a  contract.  "  The  man  does  not  know 
his  business,  if  he  cannot  tell  when  he  will  be  done," 
said  Pylades  to  me.  And  when  I  asked  what  would 
have  happened  if  his  men  had  not  finished  this  job  in 
time,  he  shook  his  head  and  said  "  a/jTray/Ao?.  I  should 
have  taken  from  a  citizen  what  I  could  not  restore, 


80  SYBARIS   AND  OTHER  HOMES. 

namely,  the  time  you  had  to  wait  beyond  my  prom- 
ise." I  said  it  was  very  kind  in  him  to  count  me  as  a 
citizen. 

As  to  that,  he  said  ^evia,  or  the  duties  of  hospitahty 
were  even  more  sacred  than-  those  of  citizenship ;  and 
he  quoted  the  Greek  proverb,  which  I  had  noticed 
on  the  city  seal :  Aia'^vvrj  TroXeco?  ttoXito)  dfiapTia,  — 
"  The  shame  of  the  city  is  the  fault  of  the  citizen." 

I  cannot  see  that  there  is  any  sort  of  excuse  for  my 
loitering  here  longer  than  to-morrow.  The  paint  will 
be  dry  and  the  stores  (what  a  contrast  to  what  I  sailed 
with!)  will  be  on  board  to-night.  Among  them  all, 
I  believe  they  will  sink  her  with  oranges  and  cigars, 
sent  as  personal  presents  to  me  by  my  friends. 

Andrew  took  me  through  some  of  the  registration 
offices.  They  carry  their  statistics  out  to  a  charm  ;  I 
could  not  but  think  how  fascinated  Dr.  Jarvis  would 
be.  But  they  say,  and  truly  enough,  that  nothing 
can  be  well  done  in  administration  unless  you  know 
the  facts.  Take  railroads,  for  instance ;  if  you  know 
exactly  how  many  people  are  going  to  come  down 
town  from  a  particular  nomos,  you  can  provide  for 
them.  But  if  you  do  not,  they  must  trust  to  chance. 
They  know  here,  and  can  show  you,  how  many  men 
they  have  who  are  twenty-three  years  and  seven  days 
old,  or  any  other  age  ;  and  every  night,  of  course, 
they  know  what  is  the  population  of  the  country  in 
every  ward  of  th^f  whole  government. 

By  appointment,  I  met  the  Chief  Justice  as  he  ad- 


MY   VISIT   TO   SYBARIS.  81 

journed  the  court,  and  we  rode  to  the  Pier  for  our 
last  bath.     Dehcious  surf  I 

I  asked  him  about  sometliing  which  Kleone  said, 
which  had  surprised  me.  She  said  no  woman  was 
married  till  she  was  eighteen,  and  that  she  might  not  be 
till  she  was  twenty-five.  I  did  not  like  to  question  her ; 
but  he  tells  me  everything,  and  I  asked  him.  He 
M-ent  into  the  whole  history  of  the  matter  in  his  reply, 
and  the  system  is  certainly  very  curious. 

He  bade  me  remember  the  fundamental  importance, 
as  loner  ago  as  the  laws  of  Charondas,  of  marriage  in 
the  state.  "  The  unit  with  us,"  he  said,  "  is  the  '  one 
flesh,'  the  married  man  and  women.  We  consider  no 
unmarried  man  as  more  than  a  half,  and  so  with 
woman."  Then  he  went  on  to  say  that  they  had 
formerly  a  hopeless  imbroglio  of  suits,  —  breach-of- 
promise  cases,  divorce  cases,  cases  of  gossip,  and  so 
on,  which  had  resulted  in  the  present  system ;  and, 
without  quoting  words,  I  will  try  to  describe  it.  Kle- 
one was  right.  No  woman  may  marry  before  she  is 
eighteen.  They  hold  it  as  certain  that,  before  she  is 
twenty-five,  she  will  have  met  her  destiny.  They  say 
thatj  if  no  gossip,  or  manoeuvring,  or  misunderstanding 
intervene,  it  is  certain  that  before  she  is  twenty-five, 
in  a  simple  state  of  society  like  this,  which  places  no 
bar  on  the  free  companionship  of  men  and  women,  the 
husband  appointed  for  her  in  heaven  will  have  seen 
her  and  made  himself  known  to  her.  They  say  that 
tiiere  is  no  unfair  compulsion  to  his  free-will,  if  they 

4*  F 


82  SYBAKIS  AND   OTHER  HOMES. 

intimate  to  liim  that  he  must  do  this  within  a  certain 
time.  If  it  happen  that  she  do  not  find  this  man  he- 
fore  that  age,  she  must  travel  away  from  Sjbaris  for 
thirty  years,  or  until  she  has  married  abroad.  They 
regard  this  as  exile,  which  these  people,  so  used  to  a 
comfortable  life,  consider  the  most  horrible  of  punish- 
ments. To  tell  the  truth,  I  do  not  wonder.  Practi- 
cally, however,  it  appears  that  the  punishment  is  never 
pronounced.  More  male  children  are  born  into  the 
state  than  female.  This  alone  indicates  that  the  age 
of  mai'riage  for  men  must  be  somewhat  higher  than 
that  of  women.  Their  custom  is,  keeping  the  maximum 
age  of  men's  marriage  at  thirty,  for  the  Statistical 
Board  to  issue  every  thi'ee  months  a  bulletin,  stating 
what  is  the  minimum  age.  Just  now  it  is  twenty- 
three  years,  one  month,  and  eleven  days.  If  a  man 
does  not  choose  to  marry  here  when  he  is  thirty,  he 
spends  thirty  years  in  travel,  looking  for  the  wife  he 
has  not  found  at  home.  But,  as  I  say  of  the  women, 
practically  no  one  goes. 

I  said  that  I  thought  this  was  a  very  stern  statute, 
and  that  it  interfered  completely  with  the  right  of  the 
individual  citizen,  which  they  pretend  was  at  the  bot- 
tom of  their  system.  The  Chief  Justice  said,  in  reply, 
that  everybody  said  so.  "  L'Estrange  said  so  to  me  in 
England,  and  Kleber  said  so  to  me  in  Germany,  and 
Chenowith  said  so  to  me  in  America,  and  Juarez  said  so 
to  me  in  Bolivia.  But  the  truth  is,  that  it  is  absolutely 
certain  that  before  a  woman  is  twenty-five,  and  before 


MY  YJSIT   TO   SYBARIS,  83 

a  man  is  thirty,  each  of  them  has  met  his  destiny  or 
hers.  If  the  two  destinies  do  not  run  into  one,  it  is 
because  some  infernal  gossip,  or  misunderstanding,  or 
ignorance,  or  other  cause,  —  I  care  not  what,  —  inter- 
venes.- Now,"  said  he,  "you  know  how  hard  we  are 
)n  gossip,  since  Charondas's  time.  '  No  tale-bearer 
shall  live.'  What  is  left  is  to  see  that  sentiment,  or 
modesty,  or  self-denial,  or  the  other  curse,  as  above, 
shall  not  intervene  to  defeat  the  will  of  Heaven.  For 
in  heaven  this  thing  is  done.  I  can  assure  you,"  said 
he,  "  that  this  calm,  steady  pressure  of  an  expressed 
determination  that  people  shall  carry  out  their  des- 
tiny, saves  myriads  of  people  from  misunderstand- 
ing and  misery;  and  that,  in  practice,  no  individual 
right  is  sacrificed.  I  know  it,"  he  added,  after  a  mo- 
ment, "for  I  am  the  person  who  must  know  it.  It  is 
not  true  that  all  marriages  are  made  here  by  the  Lord 
Chancellor,  —  as  Dr.  Johnson  proposed.  But  it  is 
true  that  I  send  into  exile  the  people  who  will  not 
marry.  How  many  do  you  think  I  have  exiled,  now, 
in  thii'teen  years  ?  " 

I  guessed,  for  a  guess'  sake,  five  hundred. 

"  Not  one,"  said  the  Chief  Justice.  "  No,  nor  ever 
seemed  to  come  near  it  but  once.  Every  three  months 
there  is  a  special  day  set  apart  when  the  Statistical 
Board  shall  send  me  the  lists.  For  a  fortnight  before 
the  day  there  are  a  great  many  marriages.  When 
the  day  comes,  I  go.  Colonel  Ingham,  into  an  empty 
court-room,  and  sit  there  for  three  hours.     No  officers 


84  SYBARIS   AND   OTHER   HOMES. 

of  court  are  permitted  to  be  present  but  myself.  Once 
it  happened  that  when  I  went  in  I  found  a  fine  young 
officer,  a  man  whom  I  knew  by  sight,  sitting  there 
waiting  his  sentence.  I  bowed,  but  said  nothing.  I 
took  my  papers,  and  asked  him  if  he  would  come  in  again 
at  eleven.  At  half  past  ten  came  in  a  woman  whom 
I  had  watched  since  she  was  a  child,  —  one  of  those 
calm,  even-balanced  people,  who  are  capable  of  bless- 
ing the  world,  but  are  so  unselfish  that  they  may  be 
pushed  one  side  into  washing  dishes  for  beggars.  She 
had  her  veil  down,  but  walked  to  the  bench,  and  laid 
her  card  before  me.  I  pointed  her  a  seat,  and  went 
on  with  my  writing.  As  the  clock  struck  eleven,  I 
asked  her  to  excuse  me  for  a  moment,  and  I  withdrew. 
I  stayed  in  my  private  room  an  hour.  I  came  back  at 
noon,  —  and  my  lieutenant-colonel  and  my  queenly 
Hebe  were  both  gone.  It  was  the  victory  of  a  young 
love.  He  had  worshipped  her  since  they  were  at 
school  together,  and  she  him.  But  some  tattling  aunt 
—  she  died  just  in  time  to  save  herself  from  the  gal- 
leys —  put  in  some  spoke  or  other,  I  know  not  what, 
that  blocked  their  wheels  ;  she  had  calmly  said  "  No" 
to  a  hundred  men,  and  he  had  passed  like  a  blind, 
deaf  man  among  a  thousand  women.  Both  of  them 
were  ready  to  go  into  exile,  rather  than  surrender  the 
true  loyalty  of  youth.  But  I  had  the  wit  to  leave 
them  to  each  other.  They  were  married  that  after- 
noon, and  all  is  well ! " 


MY   VISIT   TO   SYBARIS.  85 

And  to-morrow  niglit  I  shall  be  jotting  my  entries 
here  as  the  sea  pitches  me  up  and  down  in  the  gulf. 
When  shall  I  see  all  these  nice  friends  again  ?  I  feel 
as  if  I  had  known  them  since  we  were  born.  I  can- 
not yet  analyze  the  charm.  I  believe  I  do  not  want 
to.  They  certainly  do  not  pretend  to  be  saints.  They 
have  rather  the  complete  self-respect  of  people  who 
do  not  think  of  themselves  at  all.  The  state  cares  for 
the  citizen,  and  for  nothing  else.  There  is  no  thought 
of  conquest ;  nay,  they  court  separation  from  the  world 
outside.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  the  citizen  cares  for 
the  state,  —  seems  to  see  that  he  is  lost  if  this  ma- 
jestic  administration  is  not  watching   over  him  and 

defending  him.     Because  the   law  guards  their  indi- 
ct o 

vidual  rights,  even  their  individual  caprices,  there  is 
certainly  less  tyranny  of  Mrs.  Grundy  and  of  fashion. 
But  yet  I  never  lived  among  people  who  had  so 
little  to  say  about  their  own  success, — about  "I 
said,"  "I  told  him,"  or  "my  way,"  or  "I  told  my 
wife." 

When  I  spoke  to  the  chief  the  other  day  of  their 
homage  to  individual  right,  lie  said  they  made  the  citi- 
zen strong  because  they  would  make  the  state  strong, 
and  made  the  state  strong  that  it  might  make  the  citi- 
zen strong.  I  quoted  Fichte  :  "  The  human  race  is 
the  individual,  of  which  men  and  women  are  the  sepa- 
rate members."  "  Fichte  got  it  from  Paul,"  said  he. 
"  If  you  mean  to  have  a  sound  mind  in  a  sound  body, 
you  must  have  a  sound  little  finger  and  a  clear  eye. 


86  SYBAKIS   AND   OTHER  HOMES. 

But  you  will  not  have  a  clear  eye,  or  a  sound  little  fin- 
ger, unless  you  have  a  sound  mind  in  a  sound  body. 
Colonel  Ingham,  —  Love  is  the  whole  !  " 

It  has  been  a  pretty  bleak  evening.  I  have  been 
running  round  with  George  to  say  good  by.  Kleone 
asked  me,  so  prettily,  when  I  would  come  with  Mapt- 
aBiov.  It  was  half  a  minute  before  I  reflected  that 
MapidBcov  is  Greek  for  Polly ! 

Thursday,  Sd  Kal.  Gap^rfK.  —  At  the  boat  at  8.30. 
The  old  man  was  there  without  the  boys.  He  said 
they  wanted  to  stay  here. 

"  Among  the  devils  ?  "  said  I. 

The  old  man  confessed  that  the  place  for  poor  men 
was  the  best  place  he  ever  saw;  the  markets 'were 
cheap,  the  work  was  light,  the  inns  were  neat,  the 
people  were  civil,  the  music  was  good,  the  churches 
"were  free,  and  the  priests  did  not  lie.  He  believed  the 
reason  that  nobody  ever  came  back  from  Sybaris  was, 
that  nobody  wanted  to. 

The  Proxenus  nodded*,  well  pleased. 

"  So  Battista  and  his  brother  would  like  to  stay  a 
few  months  ;  and  he  found  he  might  bring  Caterina 
too,  when  my  Excellency  had  returned  from  Gallipoli ; 
or  did  my  Excellency  think  that,  when  Garibaldi  had 
driven  out  the  Bou'rboris,  all  the  world  would  be  like 
Sybaris  ?  " 

My  Excellency  hoped  so ;  but  did  not  dare  prom- 
ise. 


MY  VISIT   TO   SYBARIS.  87 

"  You  see  now,"  said  George,  "  why  you  hear  so 
little  of  Sybaris.  Enough  people  come  to  us.  But 
you  are  the  only  man  I  ever  saw  leave  Sybaris  who 
did  not  mean  to  return." 

"  And  I,"  said  I,  —  "  do  you  think  I  am  never  com- 
ing here  again  ?  " 

"  You  found  it  a  hard  harbor  to  make,"  said  the 
Proxenus.  "  We  have  published  no  sailing  directions 
since  St.  Paul  touched  here,  and  those  which  he  wrote 
—  he  sent  them  to  the  Corinthians  yonder — neither 
tliey  nor  any  one  else  have  seemed  to  understand." 

"  Good  by." 

"  God  bless  you !  Good  by."  And  I  sailed  for 
Gallipoli. 

Wind  N.  N.  W.,  strong.  I  have  been  pretty  blue 
all  day.  And  the  old  man  is  too.  It  is  just  7.30 
P.  M.  The  lights  of  the  Castle  of  Otranto  are  in 
sight,  and  I  shall  turn  in.     Xaipe. 


HOW  THEY  LIVED  AT  NAGUADAYICK. 

FROM    REV.    FREDERIC   INGHAM's    PAPERS. 
I. 

Naguadavick  was  in  itself,  of  nature,  like  any- 
other  town,  only  a  good  deal  worse.  I  mean  that  the 
lake  took  up  all  one  side  of  it,  so  nobody  could  live 
there.  Then  on  the  river  front  nobody  would  live  if 
he  could.  Out  on  the  roads  to  Assabet  and  Plim- 
quoddy  you  could  get  no  water  that  anybody  would 
drink.  So  it  happened  that  in  the  town  proper  every- 
body had  to  live  on  the  north  side.  This  made  land 
there  dear,  and  would  have  made  rents  very  high  if 
we  had  not  found  out  a  much  better  way  to  live,  —  of 
which  I  am  now  going  to  give  you  the  history. 

"  In  balloons  ?  " 

Not  a  bit  of  it.  There  is  no  word  of  nonsense  in 
what  I  am  going  to  tell  you.  It  is  only  a  thing  per- 
fectly practicable  in  every  spirited  American  town 
which  needs  it,  and  the  only  wonder  is  that  it  was  not 
done  in  every  such  town  long  ago.  It  has  been  tried 
for,  everywhere,  in  a  fashion,  and  it  only  needs  brains, 
and  enterprise,  and  faith  in  men,  to  carry  it  out  every- 
where with  success. 

It  all  began  at  a  meeting  of  their  Union.    "  Trade's 


HOW   THEY   LIVED   AT   NAGUADAVICK.  89 

Union  ?  "  Not  exactly.  In  a  Trade's  Union  only 
one  trade  meets.  This  was  a  meeting  of  all  sorts 
of  people,  with  trades  and  without,  with  money  and 
without,  —  some  with  one  idea  and  some  with  seven,  — 
a  union  which  the}^  used  to  have  in  a  decent  sort_  of 
club-house  they  had.  Men  and  women  could  go,  and- 
did.  You  played  checkers,  or  euchre,  or  billiards,  — 
or  you  went  up  stairs  and  danced,  —  or  you  read  in 
the  reading-room,  or  you  talked  in  the  drawing-room. 
And  in  the  committee-room  there  was  almost  every 
evening  what  they  called  a  Section,  where  something 
or  other  was  up,  —  maybe  a  tableau,  maybe  a  debat- 
ing-club,  maybe  a  paper  on  the  legs  of  cockchafers. 
They  called  it  all  the  "  Union  for  Christian  Work." 
Well,  one  night  in  the  committee-room  they  had  had 
rather  a  dreary  powwow  about  the  future  of  Naguada- 
vick.  Pretty  much  all  of  them  agreed  Naguadavick 
was  going  to  the  dogs.  They  could  not  raise  pine- 
apples, and  it  was  evidently  unhealthy  for  cats.  All 
the  merchants  went  to  Boston  for  their  spring  and  fall 
supjjlies,  instead  of  buying  them  of  each  other.  The 
manufacture  of  horn  gun-flints  had  proved  successful, 
but  tllfey  cost  more  when  they  were  made  than  the 
stone  ones  ;  and,  worst  of  all,  as  I  have  remarked, 
there  was  no  chance  for  anybody  to  live  anywhere,  if 
the  population  of  the  town  should  enlarge  by  one. 
For  every  house  was  occupied,  and  it  was 'known  to 
the  presiding  officer  that  at  INIrs.  Varnum's  boarding- 
house,  the  mistress  had  that  day  refused  to  receive  a 


90  SYBARIS  AND   OTHER  HOMES. 

family  from  out  of  town  because  they  had  eleven  chil- 
dren. 

So  it  was  generally  agreed  that  Naguadavick  was 
going  to  the  dogs  as  fast  as  it  could  go.  I  never  was 
in  but  one  thoroughly  prosperous  town  that  was  not, 
if  you  could  trust  the  talking  kind. 

Meanwhile,  in  fact,  Naguadavick  was  a  driving, 
thriving,  striving,  hiving,  wiving,  and  living  town  of 
23,456  people  by  the  last  United  States  census,  with 
"  probably  at  the  present  time  rising  36,000,  if  only 
the  beggarly  and  miserly  city  council  had  not  refused 
to  take  a  special  count  when  they  levied  the  tax  last 
spring." 

Ogden  went  home  from  that  meeting  red-hot,  he 
was  so  mad.  He  told  his  wife  all  they  had  said,  and 
said  he  could  not  stand  it.  She  said  she  should  not 
think  he  could.  He  said  it  was  all  nonsense.  She 
said  it  certainly  was,  but  she  wished  he  would  not 
swear  so.  He  said  he  would  not  again,  but  it  was 
enough  to  make  the  minister  swear  and  burn  his  books 
too.  She  said  she  hoped  the  minister  would  not  burn 
Consuelo  till  she  had  a  chance  to  finish  it.  This  made 
Ogden  laugh,  —  it  was  old  Elkanah's  nephew;  did 
you  know  him  ?  and  they  went  to  bed.  But  Ogden 
was  thoroughly  mad  this  time  ;  he  said  he  would  not 
stand  it,  and  he  would  not  have  any  more  such  talk 
at  the  Union.  And  he  did  not.  They  have  talked 
nonsense  there  since.  But  they  never  talked  this 
same  nonsense.     And  this  was  the  way  he  managed  it. 


HOW  THEY   LIVED   AT   NAGUADAVICK.  91 

As  soon  as  he  had  read  his  letters  tlie  next  morning 
at  the  mill,  and  had  just  walked  through  all  the  rooms, 
(Ogden  made  whips  for  export,  —  Boothia  Felix,  — 
immense  demand  for  sea-horses,)  he  told  his  boy  he 
should  be  out  for  two  hours,  went  across  to  the  offices 
of  the  Great  Eastern  Railway,  and  charged  right  in 
on  Greenleaf.  Capital  fellow,  Greenleaf,  the  best  man, 
I  think,  and  the  most  spirited  and  most  spiritual,  and 
the  most  to  be  loved,  of  all  men  I  have  ever  known. 
Greenleaf  had  done  his  letters  too ;  —  had  seen  all  his 
heads  of  department, — and  he  put  down  the  Adver- 
tiser,—  gave  Ogden  two  chairs,  — and  put  his  feet  in 
one. 

"  Why  did  you  not  stay  in  the  Section  Room,  last 
night  ?  "  said  Ogden. 

"  You  know,"  said  Greenleaf.  "  Why  —  did 
you?" 

"Why  indeed,"  said  Ogden  again,  "unless  to  see 
how  far  the  infernal  tomfoolery  of  croaking  may  lead 
men.  It  seems  to  be  literally  and  really  supposed 
that  these  people,  who  have  known  enough  to  dam 
this  river,  wdiere  there  is  a  quicksand  bottom,  —  who 
know  enough  to  make  fine  sewing-thread  in  air  so  dry 
that  it  sparkles,  —  who  know  enough  to  split  a  flint 
into  ten  thousand  million  billion  flinders  no  bigger  than 
the  mustache  of  a  mosquito,  —  don't  know  how  to 
live,  and  will  go  off"  to  Death's  Hollow,  because  the 
boarding-houses  are  full.  Jove !  Why  don't  they 
send  us  all  back  to  the  Lincolnshire  Fens  and  to  — 


92  SYBAEIS  AND   OTHER  HOMES. 

what  you  call  it  —  old  Brewster's  place,  Aiisterfield  — 
Scrooby  —  in  the  edge  of  York,  to-morrow  !  Why, 
the  monkeys  know  more,  for  they  know  enough,  if 
they  can't  live  in  one  place,  to  live  in  another  !  " 

Thus  far,  remembering  his  wife's  warning,  Ogden 
went  on,  and  sinned  not  with  his  tongue,  nor  weak- 
ened the  force  of  what  he  said,  by  any  profane  ex- 
aggeration. 

Greenleaf  laughed,  and  said  he  had  not  heard  so 
much  twaddle  as  he  heard  in  the  five  minutes"  he  Avas 
there,  and  Ogden  was  much  comforted. 

So  soothed,  he  began  again.  "  Now,  Frank,  I  want 
to  stop  all  this.  If  it  goes  on,  it  may  do  serious  in- 
jury. In  the  first  place,  such  talk  will  ruin  the  Union. 
Who  is  going  there  if  that  whining,  canting,  drivel- 
elling  old  fool  is  going  to  talk  such  stuff"?  What  's 
worse  is,  it  will  get  into  the  papers.  They  would  not 
put  it  in  the  Spy  ;  but  old  Martin  at  the  Conrant  is  just 
ass  enough  to  put  in  something  about  the  decline  of 
our  population,  and  the  unhealthy  condition  of  the 
muskrats  who  live  under  the  long  dike.  I  had  to  go 
round  there  this  morning  to  stop  him  off"  this  time. 
Well,  of  course,  nobody  reads  their  trash  ;  but,  after 
they  have  put  it  in  a  few  million  times,  it  gets  copied 
somewhere,  and  it  sticks,  and  then  people  will  really 
think  this  place  has  gone  up,  and  not  an  owl  or  a 
jackal  will  come  here  to  rear  jackets  or  owlets  !  " 

"  Who  is  croakincT  now  ?  "  said  Greenleaf,  laughing. 
"  You  did  not  come  here  to  say  that." 


HOW   TIIEY   LIVED   AT   XAGUADAVICK.  93 

"  No,"  said  Ogden,  standing  up,  "  I  did  not."  And 
lie  walked  to  the  large  scale  map  of  the  Great  Eastern 
road.  "  I  came  here  to  show  you  this."  And  he 
pointed  out  a  spot  eleven  miles  from  Naguadavick,  on 
the  line  of  that  road.  "  What  could  you  buy  the 
Lemon  property  here  for  ?  " 

"  House  and  land,  —  there  are  four  hundred  acres  ; 
I  suppose  thirty-five  thousand  dollars  would  be  the 
asking  price." 

"  Yes,  —  and  out  here,  — the  Gregory  place  ?  " 

Greenleaf  said  that  was  not  worth  so  much.  There 
was  more  land,  but  it  was  poor  land,  and  the  house 
had  been  burned  down.  Ogden  said  he  did  not  care 
how  poor  the  land  was,  and  he  sat  down  again. 

"  Tell  your  directors  to  buy  .those  two  places  to- 
morrow. If  you  have  not  got  any  money,  issue  some 
bonds  and  get  some.  Open  a  new  station  where  the 
Sudbury  road  crosses  yours.  Cut  up  the  nine  hundred 
acres  into  lots  of  a  quarter-acre,  a  half-acre,  and  an 
acre,  say,  in  all,  two  thousand  lots.  These  lots  Avill 
cost  you  rather  less  than  fifty  dollars  apiece,  on  the 
average.  Fix  the  price  of  each  lot  on  your  lithograph 
plan,  and  never  vary  from  it.  Then  advertise  that 
for  twenty  years  you  will  run  special  trains  in,  from 
your  new  station,  at  6,  6.30,  and  7  in  the  morning, 
and  as  many  more  as  you  choose,^- that  you  will 
run  them  out  at  6,  6.30,  7,  and  8  in  the  evening, 
and  as  many  more  as  you  choose.  Not  one  train 
shall   stop   on  the  way,  —  and   every  man    shall   be 


94  SYBARIS  AND   OTHER  HOMES. 

in  town  in  twenty-two  minutes  from  the  time  he 
started.  Before  you  are  five  ^^ears  older,  if  you  keep 
your  promises,  that  station  will  do  a  business  of  two 
thousand  tickets  a  day,  each  way.  In  ten  years  its 
business  will  be  five  thousand  tickets.  And  your  ras- 
cally railroad  will  be  blest  of  men  and  angels  as  a  cor- 
poration with  a  soul." 

Greenleaf  laughed,  —  and  locked  the  door.  Then 
he  opened  a  large  drawer.  "  Look  here,"  said  he. 
"  When  I  left  you,  last  night,  I  came  home  here  and 
drew  out  this  plan,  not  for  the  Lemon  place,  but  for 
the  Chenery  farm,  which  is  better.  We  may  take  the 
Gregory  property  if  we  like.  I  have  seen  the  chief, 
and  he  says,  '  Go  ahead.'  He  says  he  will  take  it  on 
his  own  shoulders,  —  that  the  company  may  not  like 
to  carry  it  long  enough.  He  says  he  shall  lose  noth- 
ing on  the  investment,  and  that  it  will  bring  up  his 
stock.     And  so  it  will. 

"  We  shall  put  the  lots  at  twice  what  they  cost  us, 
for  there  must  be  a  sure  profit,  and  we  shall  sell  them 
as  the  Illinois  Central  sells  lots,  ten  per  cent  down 
and  ten  per  cent  each  year  for  ten  years,  on  our  asking 
price,  without  other  interest.  The  company  guai'an- 
tees,  as  you  say,  fast  trains  for  twenty  years.  That 
will  make  room  for  ten  thousand  people,  Elk." 

Elkanah  was  very  much  pleased,  and  they  went 
into  the  detail.  His  two  hours  went  by  very  fast,  and 
then  he  went  away.  When  he  had  been  five  minutes 
gone,  Greenleaf  sent  for   him.      "  Ogden,"   said  he, 


HOW   THEY   LIVED  AT   NAGUADAVICK.  95 

"  don't  you  think  you  had  better  get  up  a  little  earlier 
in  the  morning  the  next  time  you  advise  this  road  ?  " 
Ogden  was  good-natured,  and  stood  the  chaff  like  a 
man. 

II. 

As  soon  as  Greenleaf  had  bought  the  Chenery  farm, 
and  got  a  bond  for  a  deed  of  the  Gregory  property,  if 
he  wanted  it,  he  published  the  details  of  his  plan. 

Of  course  all  the  croakers  were  sure  it  would  fail. 
It  had  been  tried  ten  thousand  times,  they  said,  and 
had  failed.  "  Canton,  East  Boston,  Mount  Bellingham, 
Hyde  Park,"  said  the  croakers,  who  knew  nothing  at 
all  about  the  success  or  failure  of  either  of  these  enter- 
prises, "  when  did  not  this  plan  fail  ?  People  won't  go 
where  you  want  to  send  them." 

"  Tell  me,"  said  Greenleaf,  cheerfully,  —  he  was 
the  only  man  Avorth  anything  who  never  got  mad  by 
any  accident,  —  and  this,  as  above,  because  he  was  so 
spirited  and  spiritual  at  once,  —  "tell  me,  when  this 
ship  has  not  sailed,  if  she  was  built  before  she  was 
launched  ?  I  have  heard  of  old  Dutchmen,  who  built 
the  forecastle  of  a  ship,  and  launched  it,  and  it  went 
to  the  bottom,  —  and  of  cousins  of  theirs  who  built 
the  stern  first,  and  launched  that,  —  and  were  sur- 
prised that  it  did  not  sail  ten  knots  an  hour.  So,  I 
have  heard  of  people  who  laid  out  cities  on  paper  for 
their  own  advantage,  —  and  forgot  the  advantage  of 
their  settlers.     And  I  have  heard  of  railroads  who 


96  SYBARIS   AND   OTHER  HOMES. 

opened  stations  where  no  people  lived,  —  and  then 
sold  no  tickets.  I  have  heard  of  new  towns  opened 
at  way  stations,  —  and  people  did  not  choose  to  churn 
along  in  snuffy  old  accommodation  trains.  But  I  have 
never  heard  of  a  place  where  a  man  was  sure  of  four 
fast  trains  every  morning  and  four  more  every  night, 
that  did  not  fill  up  in  no  time." 

Down  at  the  Union,  one  night,  Ogden  got  talking 
ahout  the  new  place,  and  somebody  told  him  the  Pari- 
sians would  not  sleep  out  of  Paris.  "  No,"  said  he, 
"  nor  will  the  people  of  this  place  sleep  outside  of 
Naguadavick,  if  sleeping  outside  means  that  they  are 
to  have  no  fun  out  there.  If  there  are  to  be  no  par- 
ties, no  theatre,  no  concert,  no  Union,  no  chance  to 
croak  together,  nobody  is  going  to  live  there.  That  is 
another  reason  why  you  must  begin  on  a  large  scale. 
You  must  have  people  enough  to  make  it  worth 
Greenleaf's  while  to  run  four  fast  trains  for  you, 
morning  and  evening.  If  you  have  them,  you  will 
have  people  enough  to  persuade  Blitz  to  juggle  for 
you,  Mrs.  Wood  to  sing  to  you,  Wendell  Phillips 
and  Henry,  Beecher  to  lecture  for  you,  and  the 
French  company  to  act  for  you.  The  people  who 
will  go  to  this  *])lace  to  live  are  exactly  the  sort  of 
people  who  will  put  all  that  thing  through.  You 
will  have  a  better  public  hall  there  than  we  have 
got  here."     And  so,  indeed,  it  proved. 

I  was  at  that  time  the  minister  of  the  Sandemanian 
church  at  Naguadavick.     I  believed  in  Greenleaf,  and 


now  THEY   LIVED   AT  NAGUADAVICK.  97 

indeed  I  rather  believed  in  this  thing.  So  I  went 
round  one  day  and  asked  him  if  they  did  not  mean  to 
reserve  lots  for  churches,  and  if  they  would  not  let 
me  secure  one.  "  Look  at  the  plan,  Mr.  Ingham," 
said  Greenleaf.  "  You  will  see  some  red  crosses 
there  on  half-acre  lots,  Avhich  will  be  convenient  for 
churches." 

I  looked,  compared,  and  called  his  attention  to  one 
which  seemed  to  me  the  best.  I  said  I  did  not  know 
if  we  could  or  would  do  anything  about  it,  but  would 
they  not  give  us  a  deed  of  that  lot,  on  condition  we 
would  use  it  for  a  house  of  Avorship. 

"  We  will  give  you  a  deed,"  said  Greenleaf,  "  on 
exactly  the  same  terms  as  we  would  give  the  govern- 
ment one  for  a  post-office.  Those  terms  you  will  find 
in  brief  on  the  plan.  That  lot  is  worth  one  hundred 
and  twenty  dollars,  and  for  that  sum  the  Sandemanian 
Consistory  can  have  it.  Look  here,  Mr.  Ingham," 
said  he,  "  religion,  as  I  understand  it,  is  the  most 
essential  reality  in  earth  or  in  heaven.  The  institu- 
tions of  religion  then,  as  churches  or  Sunday  schools, 
will  in  no  wise  put  themselves  on  the  plane  of  inferior 
organizations,  as  if  they  must  beg  for  a  living  or  for 
right  to  be.  They  will  assert  their  right.  We  shall 
treat  all  institutions  of  religion  with  precisely  equal 
respect.  And  I  believe  that  the  Sandemanians  will 
find  it  desirable  to  buy  a  lot  here  now,  while  they  can, 
to  build  by  and  by,  when  they  want  to." 

I  told   him  he  was  quite  right ;  that  the  Sandema- 


98  SYBARIS   AND    OTHER   HOMES. 

nian  cnurch,  at  least,  was  in  no  position  to  ask  alms  like 
a  beggar.  And  so  the  next  Sunday  morning  I  spoke 
of  the  thing  from  the  pulpit.  I  said  it  seemed  to  me 
we  ought  to  secure  a  lot  there,  before  the  most  availa- 
ble situations  were  taken  up  by  others.  I  said  that 
any  money  I  found  in  the  charity  boxes  that  evening 
after  the  two  services,  would  be  applied  to  this  pur- 
pose. And,  as  it  happened,  I  found  one  hundred  and 
nineteen  dollars  and  nineteen  cents  there.  Polly  had 
eighty-one  cents  lying  by,  which  she  added,  and  we 
bought  the  lot  the  next  morning.  A  very  curious 
thing  followed.  The  Spy  and  the  Courant  mentioned 
this  fact,  and,  before  a  fortnight  was  over,  the  Unita- 
rians, and  the  Universalists,  and  the  Methodists,  and 
Free  Will  Baptists,  and  Orthodox  Congregationalists, 
and  Baptists,  and  Episcopalians,  and  even  Roman 
Catholics,  had  each  bought  lots.  "  They  did  not 
mean,"  they  said,  "  to  have  those  proselyting  San- 
demanians  stepping  in  before  them."  So  there 
seemed  to  be  no  danger  but  Aboo-Goosh,  as  they 
called  the  new  town,  would  have  enough  religious 
privileges. 

III. 

Elkanah  Ogden  talked  so  much  about  the  "Suburb 
of  Ease  "  at  the  Union,  and  in  all  social  circles,  he 
explained  away  so  many  difficulties,  and  pooh-poohed 
down  so  many  objections,  that  he  came  to  be  con- 
sidered as  a  sort  of  godfather  to  the  plan  ;  and  all  sorts 


HOW   THEY   LIVED   AT  NAGUADAVICK.  99 

of  people  consulted  him  about  it.  After  the  litho- 
graphic plans  were  printed  by  the  Great  Eastern,  and 
the  demand  for  their  house-lots  became  very  spirited, 
people  began  to  wake  up  Avho  had  been  very  drowsy 
before,  or  had  said  it  was  all  nonsense,  and  that  noth- 
ing could  ever  come  of  it.  And  all  sorts  of  contrivers 
came  to  Ogden  with  their  plans,  and  bored  him  aw- 
fully.   . 

Among  others  there  came  in  one  day  an  old  farmer, 
whom  Ogden  did  not  know  from  Adam.  But  he  sup- 
posed he  had  seen  him  before  ;  so  he  said,  "  Good 
morning,  Mr.  Jones.     Take  a  chair." 

But  the  old  man  said,  "  My  name  is  not  Jones.  I 
live  next  the  Jones  farm.  My  name  is  Tenny,  El- 
bridge  Tenny.     I  live  out  in  Knox.* 

Elkanah  apologized. 

Then  the  old  man  said  that  he  had  come  to  talk  to  him 
about  his  place.  It  was  a  beautiful  farm,  he  said,  slop- 
ing down  each  side  of  the  north  branch,  which  ran 
right  through  the  place.  Putting  his  father's  place 
and  his  together,  and  throwing  in  the  jointure  prop- 
erty, there  was  nigh  seven  hundred  acres  in  all.  By 
this  time  Ogden  understood  that  here  was  another 
man  who  would  like  to  sell  by  the  foot  what  had  been 
bought  by  the  acre. 

'•  You  see,"  said  the  old  man,  "  if  you  want  horse- 
cars,  the  grade  is  beautiful  from  each  side  down  to  the 
Great  Northern  Road,  and  the  flat,  where  the  stream 
-  bends,  is  just  the  place  for  a  station." 


100  SYBARIS   AND   OTHER  HOMES. 

"  I  dare  say,  Mr.  Jones,"  said  Ogden.  "  I  beg 
your  pardon,  Mr.  Eldridge,  I  dare  say.  But  all  this 
depends  on  what  the  '  Great  Northern '  says.  I  have 
never  found  them  very  bright,  or,  which  is  much  the 
same  thing,  very  humane." 

Mr.  Tenny  said  his  name  was  not  Eldridge,  and 
Ogden  apologized  again.  Tenny  had  not  been  to  the 
Great  Northern  people  ;  he  had  begun  by  drawing 
out  his  plan  for  streets,  which  perhaps  Ogden  would 
like  to  see.  And  then  he  had  thought  he  would  come 
and  consult  Mr.  Ogden  before  he  went  any  further. 

"Well,  sir,"  said  Elkanah,  "I  am  very  much  obliged 
to  you.  Now  I  tell  you  that  your  farm  may  be  as 
beautiful  as  the  Garden  of  Eden,  and  as  well  laid  out 
as  Alexander's  city  in  Egypt,  but  unless  the  Great 
Northern  does  the  right  tiling,  which  is  to  say  the 
handsome  thing,  you  can  do  nothing  with  the  farm  in 
this  way.  More  than  that,  Mr.  Tenny  [this  time  ho 
was  quite  correct],  more  than  that,  they  may  be  as 
handsome  as — as  —  the  Chevalier  Crichton,  and  if 
you,  up  there,  are  the  least  bit  short-sighted,  or  try  to 
skin  these  workingmen  whom  you  want  to  plant 
there,  the  whole  thing  fails  again.  As  I  have  said 
forty  times,  the  enterprise  is  one  combined  enterprise, 
which  seeks  everybody's  good.  It  seeks  the  good  of 
the  honest  day-laborer,  who  is  now  paying  a  dollar  a 
week  for  his  tenement  here,  it  seeks  the  good  of  his 
children  not  yet  born,  it  seeks  the  good  of  the  Great 
Northern  Railroad  and  all  its  stockholders,  and  it  seeks 


HOW   THEY  LIVED   AT   NAGUADAVICK.  101 

your  good.  But  if  any  one  of  the  parties  undertakes 
to  overreacli  any  of  the  others,  the  whole  thing  fails, 
and  deserves  to  fail." 

By  this  time  Ogden  was  unduly  excited,  and  Mr. 
Tenny  was  a  little  alarmed.  But  he  declared  that  he 
felt  all  this  also,  and  only  wanted  to  make  a  reasonable 
profit  in  the  business,  which  he  was  willing  everybody 
else  concerned  should  share.  Ogden  cooled  down,  and 
told  him  that  the  merit  of  the  enterprise  was  that  it 
offered,  not  fabulous  profit  to  anybody,  but  a  perfectly 
steady  and  sure  remuneration,  —  steady  and  sure,  as  he 
proposed  to  show.  So  they  walked  over  together  to 
the  house  of  the  president  of  the  Great  Northern.  It 
was  afternoon,  and  they  knew  he  would  not  be  at 
the  office.  They  also  knew  that  in  that  establishment 
responsibility  was  very  badly  divided,  and  that  he 
would  take  it  very  ill  if  any  such  proposal  as  this  were 
made  to  any  of  his  subordinates  before  he  had  heard  of 
it.  In  fact,  if  he  could  be  persuaded,  before  the  week 
were  over,  that  he  had  devised  the  whole  thing,  that 
would  be  best  of  all. 

It  was  veiy  slow  work,  and,  to  a  person  as  impetu- 
ous as  Elkanah,  very  tedious.  But  he  kept  his  tem- 
per like  a  saint,  knoAving  how  much  depended  on  that. 
He  let  the  president  ramble  off"  into  endless  histories 
of  his  own  former  successes  in  dealings  with  lumber- 
men, with  politicians,  and  with  owners  of  water- 
power,  —  in  all  of  which,  he,  being  the  painter  of  the 
picture,  came  off"  victorious,  and  these   several  lions 


102  SYBARIS   AND   OTHER  HOMES. 

crouched  at  his  feet.  After  many  of  these  rambles 
into  the  forests  of  facts  gilded  by  memory,  he  said, 
well  pleased :  — 

"  Then  your  object  is  to  persuade  us  to  open  a  new 
station  at  the  Bates  Crossing  ?  We  might  perhaps  let 
the  milk-trains  stop  there, —  and  the  Montaigne  special. 
How  would  that  answer  ?  That  would  give  you  two 
trains  in  winter,  and  three  in  summer  each  way." 

Elbridge  Tenny  looked  round  dubersome  on  Elka- 
nali  Ogden,  and  this  time  Elkanah  blazed  away. 

"  It  would  not  answer  at  all,  Mr.  Chauncey.  This 
is  one  of  those  enterprises,  where  you  must  do  every- 
thing or  nothing.  The  railroads  of  this  part  of  the 
country  have  steadily  cut  off  their  best  revenue,  — 
the  most  reliable  because  not  subject  to  competition,  — 
by  that  policy  of  leaving  their  suburb  travel  to  their 
accommodation  trains.  Unless  we  can  have  at  least 
three  morning  expresses  and  three  in  the  evening,  we 
can  do  nothing." 

It  was  a  wonder  Mr.  Chauncey  did  not  faint  away, 
or  show  them  the  door  as  madmen.  But  Ogden  had 
expected,  even  had  intended,  this  surprise. 

"  The  people  who  are  to  come  and  go  on  these 
trains,  Mr.  Chauncey,"  said  he,  "  are  not  women  go- 
ing a  shopping,  to  whom  ten  minutes  more  or  less  is 
of  no  account.  They  are  not  even  bank  clerks,  or  dry- 
goods  dealers,  to  whom  all  is  gained  if  they  are  on 
the  street  here  at  nine  in  the  morning.  We  want  to 
provide  for  the  day-laborer,  who  must  get  to  his  work 


HOW  THEY  LIVED   AT  NAGUADAVICK.  103 

at  eight  in  the  winter  and  at  seven  in  the  summer.  We 
mean  to  liave  him,  and  his  employer,  as  certain  that  he 
will  be  there,  a?  if  he  had  only  to  walk,  in  fifteen  min- 
utes from  his  home.  You  cannot  give  him  that  certain- 
ty, if  he  must  wait  till  your  Montaigne  train  has  made 
its  connections  above,  and  come  down  to  Bates's.  Be- 
sides this,  we  want  to  promise  him  a  seat  sure,  —  while 
he  goes  and  while  he  comes.  He  must  not  be  depend- 
ent on  the  chances  of  your  up-travel.  And  when  he 
takes  his  nap,  —  if  he  chooses  to,  riding  out,  —  he  is 
not  to  be  waked  at  six  or  eight  way  stations.  He  is 
to  be  put  through." 

Mr.  Chauncey  smiled,  —  subhme,  amused,  and  in- 
credulous. But  the  smile  faded  when  Ogden  pro- 
ceeded :  "  These  fast  trains  are  promised  by  the  Great 
Eastern  for  the  next  twenty  years,  to  people  who  take 
lots  at  Aboo  Goosh,  and  that  is  the  reason  that  they 
have  already  sold  seven  hundred  lots.  Offer  nothing 
but  way  trains,  stopping  at  all  your  near  stations,  and 
Mr.  Tenny  here  need  take  no  trouble  about  surveying 
his  lands.     He  will  not  sell  five  acres  ! " 

The  President  became  more  thoughtful  at  this. 
"Have  you  thought  what  you  should  offer  us?"  said 
he  ;  "  what  bonus  would  be  reasonable  to  induce  us  to 
try  the  experiment?  We  might  put  on  one  express 
for  three  months,  and  see  how  it  would  work." 

"  And  you  would  not  have  passengers  enough 
to  pay  for  your  oil,"  replied  Elkanah.  "  No,  Mr. 
Chauncey,  it  is  a  twenty  years'  business,  or  it  is  noth- 


104  SYBARIS   AND   OTHER   HOMES. 

ing,  that  we  propose  to  you.  There  is  nobody  now  at 
Bates's  but  Mr.  Eldridge  here,  and  he  and  his  family 
will  not  want  many  tickets.  This  business  is  to  be 
made.     When  it  is  made,  it  is  sure." 

"  And  what  inducement  do  you  suggest  ?  "  said  the 
President  again,  blandly. 

"  Simply  what  I  have  named.  Mr.  Eldridge  here 
will  be  glad  to  sell  you  land  for  your  station,  at  exact- 
ly the  same  price  that  he  will  sell  me  mine  for  my  cot- 
tage, or  the  Widow  Conley  for  hers.  On  the  other 
hand,  if  he  sells  his  two  thousand  lots,  and  sees  his 
two  thousand  houses  go  up  in  the  next  ten  years,  you 
can  guess  how  many  tickets  you  will  sell  daily." 

"  But  they  are  tickets  sold  at  a  reduced  price,"  per- 
sisted Mr.  Chauncey.     "  I  hate  these  excursions  !  " 

"  Pardon  me,"  said  Ogden,  "  there  is  no  reason  why 
you  should  put  them  at  a  reduced  price.  Put  them  at 
the  price  that  will  pay  you  best  on  the  whole.  Only 
announce  the  price  before  Mr.  Tenny  [name  right 
this  time]  puts  a  surveyor  on  the  land,  and  never 
change  it  for  twenty  years.  The  system  is  every- 
thing." 

"  Where  is  not  the  system  everything  ?  "  said  the 
President,  pleased  with  himself  for  saying  some- 
thing. And  he  promised  to  think  of  it  carefully,  for 
in  three  hours  he  had  really  got  interested  in  the  pros- 
pects the  plan  unfolded,  and  his  visitors  withdrew. 

Two  days  after,  Mr.  Chauncey  went  down  to  the 
office  and  had  a  long  talk  with  Plinlimmon,  his  super- 


HOW  THEY  LIVED   AT   NAGUADAVICK.  105 

intendent,  and  Pariss,  his  treasurer.  Plinlimmon  was 
fretting  to  death,  as  he  heard  from  day  to  day  about 
Aboo  Goosh,  and  thought  what  golden  chances  the 
Great  Northern  was  losing.  But  he  knew  it  would  be 
madness  for  him  to  broach  any  such  plan.  Imagine 
his  relief  when,  after  infinite  preface  and  explanation, 
Mr.  Chauncey  told  him  how  he  had  been  long  wishing 
that  they  might  build  up  a  local  business  of  their  own, 
so  that  they  should  not  be  so  dependent  on  those  cut- 
throats of  the  Mad  River  line  and  the  Canadian  con- 
nection ;  how  he  had  turned  over  many  plans,  and 
finally  had  concluded  that  if  they  established  a  station 
with  several  fast  trains,  say  at  Bates's  cross-roads,  they 
might  build  up  really  a  large  town  there  ;  how  he 
had  talked  with  that  Mr.  Tenny,  whom  they  had  to 
compromise  with,  about  the  land  at  the  Sias  cutting, 
and  found  him  well  disposed  to  such  an  undertaking ; 
and  in  short,  how  he,  Chauncey,  had  now  come 
down  to  talk  it  orer  with  him,  Plinlimmon,  and  him, 
Pariss,  and  if  he,  Pariss,  and  he,  Plinlimmon,  saw  no 
objections,  which  did  not  occur  to  him,  Chauncey, 
he,  Chauncey,  believed  he  should  send  Mr.  Stephen- 
son up  to  make  a  little  survey,  and  should  bring  it 
before  the  Board  the  next  Monday.  The  two  young 
men  were  immensely  interested,  immensely  sympa- 
thetic, asked  very  intelligent  questions,  proposed  very- 
modest  objections,  and  were  then  driven  from  these 
objections ;  and  by  the  time  Mr.  Chauncey  left  them, 
he  was  satisfied  that   he   had  planned  the  village  of 

5* 


106  SYBAEIS  AND   OTHER  HOMES. 

Rosedale,  at  least  five  years  ago.    He  had  left  its  name 
to  Mrs.  Chauncey,  and  this  was  her  selection. 

As  for  our  other  railroad,  —  the  Cattaraugus  and  Ka- 
tahdin,  —  it  never  occurred  to  anybody  to  suggest 
anything  to  any  of  their  people  ;  and  they  have  never 
had  a  fast  special  train  from  that  hour  to  this,  nor  ever 
will.  The  only  thoroughly  original  thing  they  ever 
did  was  to  pay  in  currency  in  Naguadavick  the  inter- 
est they  had  promised  to  pay  in  gold  in  London. 

IV. 

It  was  astonishing  to  see  these  two  towns  grow. 
You  see  it  was  not  the  ordinary  speculation  of  selling 
house-lots  to  other  people,  while  you  do  not  go  yourself 
to  live  there.  But  both  towns  were  based  on  that  in- 
genious Vineland  principle.  It  is  the  principle  on  which 
Uncle  Sam  sells  his  farm-lots  at  the  West.  The  price 
of  the  lots,  once  established,  was  established  forever,  so 
far  as  the  first  holder  went.  Of  course  they  became 
more  valuable  every  day.  Of  course  -every  man  who 
bought  one  whispered  to  his  next  friend  that  there  was 
an  admirable  chance  next  him,  if  he  only  seized  at  once. 
Everybody  tried  to  seize  at  once,  and  Aboo  Goosh  and 
Rosedale  were  soon  alive  with  the  hum  of  the  hammer 
and  the  buzz  of  the  mortising-machine.  By  the  time 
we  dedicated  the  Sandemanian  church  at  Aboo  Goosh, 
and  that  was  really  as  soon  as  we  could  get  up  a 
respectable  church  edifice,  there  were  five  hundred 


HOW  THEY   LIVED   AT   NAGUADAVICK.  107 

nouses  inhabited  there.  In  two  years  more  there  were 
two  thousand. 

Anybody  will  understand  how  the  people  with  com- 
fortable incomes  lived  there.  That  sort  of  people  live 
outside  the  towns  they  work  in  everywhere.  London, 
Boston,  New  York,  all  places  of  size,  let  the  men  who 
receive  salaries,  and  who  begin  to  work  at  nine  in  the 
morning,  live  in  their  suburbs,  —  and  they  all  know 
how  to  provide  for  that  class  of  people.  The  good 
fortune  of  Naguadavick  was,  that  in  these  Aboo  Goosh 
and  Rosedale  enterprises,  we  provided  for  the  day- 
laborers  also.  The  people  who  worked  in  the  mills, 
the  mere  diggers  and  builders,  who  had  to  stand  in 
rows  to  be  hired  on  the  blind  side  of  the  Phenix  Bank, 
opposite  the  Common,  the  women  who  sewed  in  the 
cloak-shops,  —  all  found  it  cheapest  and  best  to  live  in 
the  country,  and  to  do  their  work  in  town. 

I  had  myself  to  leave  Naguadavick  when  these 
towns  had  been  four  years  under  way.  I  left  it  for  no 
fault  on  either  side,  but  in  consequence  of  an  unfortu- 
nate misunderstanding  and  emeute  at  a  public  meet- 
ing, called  for  the  purpose  of  teaching  the  children  to 
hold  their  knives  better  at  table.  But  up  till  that  time 
I  was  intimate  in  both  these  new  towns.  And  I  may 
close  this  account  of  them  with  the  notes  of  my  last 
visit  in  Rosedale. 

I  called  there  on  an  old  parishioner  of  mine,  named 
Mary  Quinn.  She  hailed  originally  from  Carrick  on 
Suir,  but  had  married  Michael  Quinn,  who  was  from  a 


108  SYBAEIS   AND   OTHER   HOMES. 

village  just  outside  of  Tipperaiy,  some  years  before  I 
knew  her.  She  had  six  or  eight  children  here,  and 
two  in  heaven.  I  hunted  her  up  in  Rosedale,  ^ — 
found  her  a  mile  from  the  station,  on  the  horse-railroad. 
They  had  a  regular  system  of  horse-railroad  tracks 
there,  that  virtually  passed  every  man's  house.  There 
was  a  nice  garden  round  the  house,  of  half  an  acre, — 
no  fence,  which  seemed  odd ;  but  there  was  hardly  a 
fence  in  Rosedale.  They  had  some  side  hedges,  but 
made  up  for  stronger  fences  by  strict  cattle  laws. 
The  house  itself  was  a  clever  story-and-a-half  house, 
such  as  costs  in  a  -country  town  five  hundred  dollars. 
?found  this  had  cost  Quinn  rather  more  than  seven 
hundred.  The  lot  had  cost  him  seventy-five.  He 
had  paid  for  that  clear,  with  money  he  had  in  bank. 
He  and  his  wife  had  paid  a  third  part  of  the  cost  of 
the  house,  and  there  was  a  mortgage  on  it  of  four 
hundred  and  sixty  dollars.  Their  Savings  Bank  there 
took  such  mortgages,  if  they  knew  the  people.  The 
truth  was,  that  the  land  was  worth  now  ten  times  what 
the  original  price  was. 

"  "Well,  Mrs.  Quinn,"  said  I,  "  I  am  glad  to  see  the 
little  girl  so  nicely." 

The  child,  when  I  saw  her  last,  in  one  of  our  back 
streets,  had  been  white  and  puny,  worrying  along  with 
the  relics  of  scarlet  fever.  She  was  now  rugged,  sun- 
burned, freckled,  and  looked  as  if  she  would  like  to 
eat  a  tenpenny  nail. 

"  Indade  she  is,  your  Riverince,  and  it  is  hard  to 


HOW  THEY   LIVED  AT  NAGUADAVICK.  109 

say  why,  for  the  medicines  are  all  gone,  and  we  have 
not  sent  for  the  new  doctor,  since  we  came  here." 

This  was  a  stroke  of  humor  on  Mrs.  Quinn's  part. 
She  knew  well  enough  that  her  children  were  growing 
up  to  a  constitution  like  her  own,  because  they  were 
growing  up  in  the  same  way  as  she  did. 

"  But  the  boys,  your  Riverince,  they  are  the  hand- 
somest sight,  if  you  could  only  see  them.  They  're 
all  gone  now  for  blackberries,  —  or  for  I  don't  know 
what,  for  indeed  the  fields  here  are  not  like  what  we 
had  at  Carrick  on  Suir,  —  but  they  are  grown  so  big 
and  so  brown  that  you  would  not  know  them." 

"  And  how  does  there  come  enough  to  eat,  if  tney 
are  so  big  and  hungry  ?  " 

"  There,  again,"  said  she,  with  the  pride  with  which 
the  hunter  praises  his  hounds,  and  the  farmer  his 
grounds,  and  the  bishop  his  lawn.  She  flung  open 
the  door  of  the  neat  kitchen  we  were  sittino;  in,  and 
pointed  to  the  well-hoed  potato-patch  behind  the  house, 
and  to  the  rows  of  comely  cabbages  behind  them,  —  as 
if  she  had  compassed  sea  and  land,  lived  at  the  Five 
Points  and  in  North  Street,  and  now  in  Back-street- 
court-place  in  Naguadavick,  not  in  vain,  if  she  could 
only  have  her  own  potatoes  at  the  last.  Of  them  she 
said  nothing ;  but,  with  that  speaking  wave  of  the 
hand  which  would  have  become  Rachel  herself:  "  And 
the  milk,  your  Riverince,  which  cost  us  ten  cents  a 
quart  in  town,  is  only  six  cents  here.  Half  the  neigh- 
bors have  cows,  and  it  is  handier  for  them  to  let  my 


110  SYBAKIS   AND   OTHER  HOMES. 

boys  milk  for  them,  and  pay  them  in  milk,  than  to 
hire  for  money.  For  they  don't  all  have  boys  as  fine 
as  mine,"  said  Mary,  who  had  her  weak  points,  like 
Hhe  rest  of  us.  "For  butcher's  meat  we  have  more 
than  ever,  and  it  costs  us  less.  Two  pigs  my  man 
brought  up  last  year  on  the  place  here,  and  though 
tliey  said  the  pork  was  not  the  fattest,  it  made  a  big 
place  in  the  bill  any  way,  for  the  butcher  allowed  us 
all  it  was  worth,  or  he  said  he  did,  and  surely  that 
was  a  good  deal  more  than  nothing." 

Then  I  cross-questioned  Mary  about  their  social  life, 
tried  to  make  her  own  that  she  felt  the  want  and  the 
ex^tements  and  amusements  open  to  her  in  Back- 
street-court-place  ;  but  there  was  no  craving  for  their 
flesh-pots.  Pretty  clearly,  her  "  man  "  was  more  of 
a  man  here,  and  she  was  more  of  a  woman.  Why  ? 
Why,  because  they  held  Real  Estate.  Real  very  em- 
phatic, and  with  a  very  large  R,  —  and  Estate  with 
a  very  large  E.  What  is  it  Jupiter  ordains  ?  I  am 
writing  at  No.  9,  in  the  3d  range,  and  must  quote 

from  memory :  — 

"  The  day 
That  makes  a  man  a  slave  takes  half  his  life  away." 

Well,  he  might  have  added,  if  it  were  he,  and  I  be- 
lieve it  was  not,  he  might  have  added  :  — 

"  When  he  can 
Say,  '  This  lot  of  land  is  mine,'  he  's  twice  a  man." 

There  is  no  need  to  be  sentimental  about  it,  but  that 
is  the  living  fact.  The  glory  of  New  England  as  she 
was,  was  that  every  man  was  a  freeholder. 


HOW  THEY  LIVED   AT  NAGUADAVICK.  Ill 

"  My  man,"  said  Mary,  affecting  not  to  boast,  but 
reaUy  running  over  with  pride,  "  my  man  does  not 
liave  much  time  for  the  garden.  He  just  cuts  at  the 
trees  a  Httle,  and  looks  at  the  boys'  work,  and  taches 
them  a  httle  about  the  pig ;  but  after  supper  he  has  to 
dress  himself  and  go  to  the  meeting  of  the  co-opera- 
tive store,  where  he  is  a  manager,  or  he  sings  in  the 
bass  in  the  International  Club,  or  he  takes  his  turn 
on  the  sanitary  committee  of  the  Union."  Poor 
Mike,  too,  then,  he  had  come  to  enjoy  the  sweets  of 
"eventful  living,"  and  his  wife  had  come  to  the  pride 
of  having  her  husband  "  sought-arter,"  second  only 
to  the  pride  of  being  "  sought-arter "  herself,  in  the 
not  forgotten  days  of  seventeen. 

Boys  and  girls  both  might  now  be  trusted  out-doors  ; 
and  out-doors  was  a  joy  and  delight  to  their  mother  as 
to  them.  There  was  no  long-er  the  horrid  watch  and 
anxiety  there  had  been  in  the  wynds  and  courts  of  the 
city.  Every  summer  the  large  market  farmers  who 
surrounded  them  at  Rosedale  were  glad  enough  to 
hire  the  children  on  jobs  to  pick  peas  and  beans  and 
the  small  fruits  ;  and,  in  fact,  we  got  our  vegetables  the 
better  in  the  city  market,  because  we  had  sent,  not  an 
ornamental,  but  a  working  population,  to  our  suburbs. 
It  was  their  gain  and  it  was  ours  too. 

Mary's  grandest  moment  was  when  she  asked  me 
to  tea.  When  I  got  up  to  go  she  said  with  a  reality 
far  beyond  any  of  the  tones  of  artificial  civility,  that  I 
must  stay  to  see  the  children  and  take  a  cup  of  tea. 


112         SYBARIS  AND  OTHER  HOMES. 

In  Back-street-court-place  she  would  have  welcomed 
me  had  I  looked  into  the  crowded  kitchen  parlor  bed- 
room at  tea-time,  but,  had  I  come  in  before  tea-time 
she  would  no  more  have  asked  me  to  stay  than  she 
would  have  asked  me  to  hear  her  square  the  hypothe- 
nuse.  But  now  I  should  not  see  the  children,  nor 
Mike,  she  said,  unless  I  stayed  to  tea.  And  she  was 
sure  I  should  be  late  at  home,  which  was  true ;  and  I 
was  glad  I  stayed,  because  I  saw  the  children,  which 
was  best  of  all.  , 

In  they  came,  clattering  and  explaining,  —  the 
youngest  first,  by  some  miraculous  law,  then  two  or 
three  of  the  biggest,  then  a  miscellaneous  assortment, 
wound  up  with  him,  always  the  last,  who  had  on  this 
occasion  got  into  the  brook,  and  brought  in  his  shoes 
in  his  hand.  Clattering  and  enthusiastic  were  all  the 
party,  each  telling  his  part  of  the  story  on  a  some- 
what high  key,  and  all  explaining  about  the  quantity 
and  quality  of  the  berries,  which  were  indeed  mani- 
fold. Mary  sympathized,  applauded,  wondered,  and 
quieted,  tried  to  bring  them  to  consciousness  that 
the  old  minister  was  there,  promised  that  they 
should  have  the  blackberries  for  tea  and  for  break- 
fast, bade  Phelim  and  Owen  go  quick  for  the  milk, 
whispered  to  Mary  Ann  that  she  was  to  run  to  the 
baker's  and  buy  some  tea-cakes,  and  bade  the  others 
go  quick  to  their  rooms  and  wash  themselves  and  brush 
their  hair  that  they  might  be  ready. 

Their  rooms !     Why  did  not  she  say  their  thrones 


HOW   THEY   LIVED  AT  NAGUADAVICK.  113 

or  their  palaces  ?  Heavens  !  had  not  I  seen  all  those 
children  lying  asleep  together  in  one  room,  fifteen  feet 
by  twelve,  in  Avhich  all  the  cooking  of  that  family  had 
been  done  that  day,  —  all  Mrs.  Aminidab  Johnson's 
family  washing  done,  —  and  in  which  the  white  mus- 
lin di'ess  that  Selina  Johnson  wore  to  a  birthday  ball 
the  next  night  was  ironed  while  those  children  slept, 
so  that  Phelim  and  Owen  might  carry  it  home  in  the 
morning  ?  Such,  dear  reader,  is  the  stowage  in  every 
Back-street-court-place  within  half  a  mile  of  where 
you  read  these  lines  !     Their  rooms,  indeed  ! 

"  And  come  into  the  sitting-room  yourself,  '  your 
Riverince,'  "  continued  Mary.  "  I  would  have  asked 
you  in  before,  but  it  seems  more  sociable  here,  and 
more  like  old  times."  Nor  had  she  reason  to  apolo- 
gize for  her  well-blacked  Banner,  her  neat  kitchen 
table,  and  brilliant  tin  ware,  nor  for  the  pretty  garden 
view  before  -which  I  had  been  sitting.  But  I  went 
into  the  sitting-room,  knowing  I  must  be  out  of  the 
way  now  while  she  "got  tea." 

Reader,  I  have  taken  tea  with  that  same  woman's 
sister  Margaret  in  the  cabin  both  were  born  in,  outside 
Carrick  on  Suir.  It  was  a  stone  cabin  with  a  mud 
floor ;  a  partition  of  board  partly  separated  us  from 
the  pig,  who  had  the  front  of  the  doorway,  but  who 
was  visible  to  the  inquiring  eye.  I  made  my  call  at 
twilight,  and  found  Mary's  nieces  and  nephews  seated 
on  low  blocks,  or  on  their  heels,  looking  in  the  fire  of 
peat.     One  of  them  ran  for  Margaret,  to  whom  I  had 


114  SYBARIS   AND   OTHER   HOMES. 

come  to  bring  a  message,  three  thousand  miles  from 
Mary.  Instantly,  when  she  appeared,  had  a  troop  of 
ravens  been  sent  out  to  borrow  tea  and  sugar,  that  I 
might  feast ;  instantly  had  two  oat-cakes  been  set  up 
against  the  stones  on  the  hearth ;  soon  had  the  kettle 
boiled  and  the  tea  been  ready,  and  then  we  had  all 
repaired  into  Margaret's  bedroom,  —  size,  as  I  live, 
six  feet  by  five,  —  my  Reverence  carrying  with  me 
the  only  chair  in  the  house,  while  John  the  husband 
sat  on  the  bed,  while  the  teapot  and  oat-cake  smoked 
at  the  little  table,  and  Margaret,  having  in  fact  nothing 
to  sit  upon,  stood  and  served.  That  grandeur  of  one 
chair,  borrowed  tea,  and  a  barefoot  life  by  a  peat-fire 
was  what  this  Mary  Quinn  was  born  to.  Yes,  and 
for  my  notion,  I  think  it  was  better  for  her  and  her 
brothers  and  sisters  than  the  tenement  life,  upper  sto- 
ry, three  flights,  in  Back-street-court-place,  where  the 
children  feasted  and  slept  in  the  corners  left  by  Mrs. 
Johnson's  and  Selina's  spotless  drapery.  But  to  be 
ushered  out  by  this  same  Mary,  not  into  the  five-foot- 
six  bedroom,  to  feast  from  a  groaning  taper-stand,  but 
into  the  comely  sitting-room,  —  with  its  six  painted 
chairs,  its  sofa  and  ornamented  centre-table  (shade 
of  St.  Patrick),  its  portraits  of  Dan  O'Connell,  Theo- 
bald Mathew,  George  Washington  on  his  death-bed, 
and  framed  testimony  of  membership  of  the  Siloam 
Division ;  to  see  the  cheer  and  joy  with  which  that 
woman  remembered  that  she  was  not  living  either  in 
a  pig-sty  or  in  a  barrack,  and  the  sweet  saintliness 


HOW   THEY   LIVED   AT   NAGUADAVICK.  115 

with  which  she  thanked  God  that  she  was  not ;  —  to 
see  this,  and  to  know  this,  and  to  remember  this,  was  to 
make  Rosedale  gloAv  indeed  with  the  true  roseate  hue. 
I  should  not  have  selected  the  pictures  or  furni- 
ture, but  she  had.  They  were  her  taste,  if  not  mine, 
and  there  was  the  glory.  "  Excuse  me  for  a  mo- 
ment," said  the  matron,  "  Honora  will  be  down  stairs 
presently,"  and  retired,  intent  on  hospitable  cares. 
I  had  enough  to  think  of  to  make  it  unnecessary  for 
me  to  read  the  last  Harper,  or  Mr.  Hoadley's  "  Genghis 
Khan  and  his  Coadjutors."  I  only  had  the  Harper  in 
my  hand  that  I  might  not  seem  neglected  when  my 
pretty  little  Honora  came  in. 

And  that  was  really  the  same  child  whom  I  had 
seen  faded  and  dead  in  the  alley-ways  of  the  town ! 
She  remembered  the  things  she  said  then,  and  had  the 
book  Polly  gave  her  then  for  a  Christmas  present. 
The  same  child?  What  one  thing  in  her  was  the^ 
same  ?  This  nut-brown  face  against  that  limy-white 
skin,  these  hard  round  arms  against  those  skinny 
fagots  of  muscle  and  tendon,  this  modest,  simple 
look,  against  that  eager,  inquiring,  dissatisfied,  anxious 
glare !  And  when  I  talked  with  her,  —  (the  child 
knew  me  as  well  as  she  knew  her  father,)  —  when  I 
talked  with  her,  here  were  undertakings,  and  friends, 
books,  walks,  collections  of  butterflies,  a  party  to 
Mount  Greenback,  a  picnic  at  Paradise,  —  all  this, 
against  the  stupid  town  life  of  such  a  child,  who  has 
gone  to  school  and  come  back  if  she  is  good,  and  gone 


116  SYBARIS  AND   OTHER  HOMES. 

again  and  come  back  again  ;  but  to  whom  one  day  has 
been  as  another,  because  her  mother  cannot  trust  her 
much  in  the  streets,  and  there  is  for  her  no  possibility 
of  society  in  its  forms  of  simple,  hght-hearted  pleasure  ! 
Dear  reader,  if  you  care  to  go  into  Back-street-court- 
place  in  Boston  or  in  New  York,  you  may  find  as 
many  hundred  Honoras  as  you  choose,  who  never  saw 
the  sea  on  the  beach,  never  picked  shell  from  sand, 
never  planted  seed  in  ground,  never  watched  bird's 
nest  on  tree,  never  crunched  moss  with  foot,  never 
sailed  chip  on  stream,  never  hunted  butterfly  over 
grass,  never  rested  under  shady  tree,  never  waded 
across  mountain  brook,  never  picked  berry  from  bough, 
never  ate  peach  or  pear,  never  rode  on  horse  or  ass, 
never  sat  in  wagon  or  sleigh,  never  enjoyed  one  of  the 
little  pleasures  which  are  as  the  daily  food  of  your 
children,  which  they  think  of  so  little  that  they  are 
begging  you  to-day  for  something  more,  because  these 
are  things  of  course  to  everj^body. 

So,  you  see,  Honora  was  herself  the  heroine  of  a 
romance  to  me.  There  is  the  reason  why  I  read  so 
few  novels,  dear  boy  ;  it  is  because  I  see  so  many. 
And  here  comes  in  the  great  shy  Frederic,  —  my  Riv- 
erince's  godson,  —  who  has  endued  himself  rapidly 
in  his  Sunday  jacket  because  of  my  staying  to  tea, 
and  who  is  shy  and  ill  at  ease  both  because  I  am  there 
and  because  he  has  on  the  jacket.  But  I  administer 
a  story  of  the  good  fortune  of  Dick  McKelvy,  who 
has  gone  to  Mexico  with  the  army ,  and  I  show  Fred 


HOW   THEY   LIVED   AT   NAGUADAVICK.  117 

a  burning-glass  of  a  pattern  he  has  never  seen,  and  he 
becomes  communicative.  Can  it  be  possible  !  This 
godson,  who  was  erst  a  little  wild,  you  must  know, — 
who  really,  if  you  will  not  mention  it,  got  into  the 
lock-up  one  day  because  he  threw  marbles  at  an  auc- 
tioneer, and,  which  was  ten  thousand  times  worse,  at 
the  common  law,  slapped  the  pohceman  who  tried  to 
stop  him,  —  this  godson,  for  whom  I  then  and  there 
had  to  go  bail  that  he  should  keep  the  peace  of  the 
State,  else  he  would  have  been  sent  to  the  house  of  cor- 
rection, —  this  wild  godson  of  mine  is  the  most  sedate, 
if  the  most  enterprising  of  human  beings.  He  has 
formed  alliance,  offensive  and  defensive,  with  Hod  Bates 
(Hod  is  short  for  Horace).  "  You  know  Hod  Bates  ?  " 
My  Reverence  had  not  that  pleasure.  "  Well,  Hod 
is  a  first-rate  fellow,  and  his  father  owns  a  saw-mill 
up  at  Number  Nine  and  two  townships  in  the  Seventh, 
and  Hod  is  going  up  with  the  men  next  winter  to  take 
care  of  one  of  the  camps,  and  he  has  asked  his  father 
to  let  me  go  up  and  take  care  of  the  other  ;  and  if  he 
likes  and  I  like,  I  am  to  have  a  chance  at  the  mill 
when  it  begins  running  in  April,  —  the  fellow  that  is 
there  now  is  going  to  Illinois,"  &c.,  &c.,  &c.  Fred 
is  on  a  larofer  stao-e  now,  and  the  accumulated  steam 
which  erst  fired  marbles,  as  from  a  Perkins  gun,  on 
my  excellent  friend  Cunningham  with  his  hammer,  is 
now  to  drive  the  mill  which  is  to  cut  the  plank,  which 
is  to  lay  the  floor  of  the  court-house,  in  which  you, 
my  dear  Frisbie,  are  to  lay  down  the  law  which  is  to 


118  SYBARIS   AND   OTHER  HOMES. 

save  from  ruin  these  States  in  all  coming  time  !     This 
is  the  house  that  Fred  built ! 

A  slight  commotion,  and  it  is  announced  that  Mike's 
train  passes  the  window.  Ten  minutes  more  (for  the 
horse-cars  are  not  Metropolitan,  let  us  be  thankful) 
and  Mike's  step  is  heard  at  the  side  door.  Two  min 
utes  for  a  second  wash,  for  brushing  the  hair  even  with 
Methodistical  precision,  and  for  a  Sunday  coat,  and 
Mike  emerges  into  the  sitting-room.  His  ride  out 
of  town  has  been  his  visit  to  his  club-room  ;  he  has 
picked  up  all  the  gossip  of  Naguadavick  and  of  Rose- 
dale.  He  tells  me  more  news  than  I  have  heard  in  a 
week,  and  does  the  honors  with  infinite  volubility. 
Thirty  seconds  more  and  Mary's  tea-bell  rings.  That 
Mary  Quinn  should  need  a  tea-bell !  that  the  little 
hawks  are  not  sitting  on  their  perches  waiting  to  de- 
scend on  the  visible  meal  !  And  we  go  in  to  sit,  not 
on  the  bed  of  her  bedroom,  but  in  the  neat  kitchen, 
at  her  pretty  table,  where  everything,  dear  Amphi- 
tryon, is  served  a  great  deal  hotter  from  the  stove  than 
you  will  ever  have  it  in  your  palace,  for  all  your  patent- 
contrived  double  dishes  and  covers,  and  for  all  youi 
very  noisy  dumb-waiters. 

On  that  hospitable  meal  let  the  curtain  fall.  It  was 
the  eaters,  not  the  eaten,  that  had  the  fascination  for 
me.  As  it  happened,  it  was  only  the  day  before  that 
I  had  walked  through  A  Street  in  South  Boston.  It 
was  vacation,  and  the  wretched  Irish  children  wero 
sitting  on  their  haunches  as  Baker  describes  the  Abys- 


HOW   THEY  LIVED  AT   NAGUADAVICK.  110 

sinians,  looking  across  the  street  at  nothing  ^Yith  their 
poor  hicklustre  eyes.  What  should  they  do  ?  Mr. 
Nash  had  given  them  baths.  But  they  could  not  swim 
all  day !  The  city  had  given  schools,  but  they  could 
not  go  to  school  all  the  year  !  Poor  wretches,  —  after- 
noon had  come,  and  supper-time  had  not  come,  — 
what  room  wa^s  there  in  those  heated  tenements,  — 
what  play  for  them  out-doors  ?  And  these  miserable, 
pseudo- Abyssinian  children  were  of  the  same  blood  as 
Phelim  and  Honora  and  Owen.  Nay,  maybe  they 
were  their  cousins.  Maybe  ;  —  and  what  is  certain, 
dear  reader,  is  that  they  were  your  brothers  and  sis- 
ters, and  were  mine  ! 

So  I  drank  Mary's  tea  from  her  wonderful  new 
service  of  "  chancy."  I  eat,  in  the  right  order,  of 
bread,  toast,  gingerbread,  pie,  and  tea-cake ;  I  praised 
the  children's  berries  and  had  a  quart  put  up  for  Polly 
and  the  children  ;  I  kissed  the  little  ones  good  by,  I 
shook  hands  with  the  eldest,  cried  "All  right  !  "  to  Phe- 
lim as  he  stopped  the  horse-car,  entered  it,  crossed  to 
the  steam  station,  and  in  thirty-seven  minutes  and 
nineteen  seconds,  from  house  to  hoyse,  I  was  at  home 
in  Polly's  arms. 

They  did  not  sell  season  tickets  on  the  Great  North- 
ern ;  they  sold  package  tickets,  and  for  his  six  hun- 
dred and  twenty-four  passages  yearly  Mike  had  to 
pay  sixty-two  dollars  and  forty  cents.  His  interest 
money  on  his  house  was  forty-six  dollars  and  fifty  cents. 
These  two  amounts  made  one  hundred  and  eight  dol- 


120  SYBARIS   AND   OTHER  HOMES. 

lars  and  ninety  cents  a  year  against  the  three  dollars  a 
week  which  Mike  used  to  pay  for  two  nasty  and  deadly 
rooms  over  the  open  drain  in  Back-street-court-place. 
He  had,  thrown  in  beside,  the  steady  improvement 
in  his  property,  his  children's  health,  the  value  of  their 
work,  as  it  appeared  in  the  garden  and  the  results  of 
the  garden,  and,  above  all,  the  feeling  that  no  man  was 
his  master,  that  he  was  independent,  was  subduing  the 
world,  and  in  short  was  one  of  the  governing  classes. 
Mike  was  not  the  only  workman  in  Naguadavick  who 
saw  the  advantage  of  that  line  of  life. 

"  This  is  certainly  better,"  I  said  to  myself,  as  I 
rode  into  town,  "  than  having  to  crowd  Mike  and 
Mary  and  their  friends  as  we  did  five  years  ago.  All 
our  ministry  at  large,  and  all  our  home  missions,  and 
all  our  provident  associations,  and  all  our  relief  organi- 
zations, and  all  our  soup  kitchens,  were  but  a  poor 
apology  for  such  a  success  as  this.  We  are  getting 
back  here  on  the  true  American  principle,  '  where 
every  rood  of  ground  supports  its  man,'  woman,  and 
child,  —  nay,  is  it  not  the  principle  of  the  prophet : 
'  Every  man  shall  sit  under  his  own  vine  and  fig- 
tree  '  ?  " 

"  We  must  have  land  .enough  too,"  I  said.  "  In  a 
circle  of  fifteen  miles'  radius  around  Naguadavick 
there  are  about  four  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  acres. 
So  many  acre  homesteads,  supposing  an  acre  were  the 
average.  That  gives  homes  for  two  million  persons, 
and   NasTiadavick  will   not  need  two  million  inhabi- 


HOW   THEY   LIVED   AT  NAGUADAVICK.  121 

tants,  while  there  are  only  one  million  people  in  the 
wliole  State." 

And  so  I  returned  home. 

To  live  thus,  near  Boston,  and  to  let  our  laboring 
men  live  thus,  we  need  to  provide  for  the  laboring 
men  as  carefully  as  we  have  already  provided  for  the 
men  who  live  on  salaries.  For  this,  we  need  express 
trains  from  points  so  distant  that  land  is  yet  cheap. 
And  we  need  unswerving  regularity  in  the  administra- 
tion of  these  trains.  These  requisites  granted,  such 
an  arrangement  becomes  a  blessing  to  Boston,  to  the 
neighboi'hood,  to  the  laborer,  and  to  the  railroad  or 
common  carrier,  who  intervenes  among  them  all. 


HOW   THEY  LIVE  IN  VINELAND. 

ViNELAND  is  a  village  of  about  three  thousand  in- 
habitants, closely  surrounded  by  farms,  where  there 
reside  nine  thousand  more,  thirty-five  miles  from  Phila- 
delphia, on  the  way  to  Cape  May. 

Eight  years  ago  no  person  lived  in  the  village  thus 
occupied  at  the  present  time,  and  hardly  six  families 
on  the  lands  now  used  for  farms. 

No  extensive  manufacture  has  called  these  people 
together.  There  has  been  no  discovery  of  mines, 
mineral  spring,  or  other  marvel.  The  railroad  gives 
them  no  new  facility,  or  any  which  is  not  shared  by 
a  dozen  other  places.  Nor  is  the  soil  any  better  than 
in  a  hundred  others. 

Vineland  has  become  what  it  is,  a  busy,  thriving 
place  of  twelve  thousand  people,  by  the  steady  de- 
velopment of  two  or  three  simple  principles,  which 
might  be  tried  anywhere,  if  there  were  a  scale  suf- 
ficiently large  for  the  experiment. 

I  contribute  to  this  book,  therefore,  a  brief  study 
of  these  principles  as  they  have  been  illustrated  by  the 
growth  of  Vineland.  For  I  believe  that  in  the  appli- 
cation of  such  principles  to  the  settlement  of  small 
towns  as  cities  of  refuge  near  our  large  cities  is  the 


HOW   THEY   LIVE   IN   VINELAND.  123 

salvation  of  our  large  cities  to  be  found.  I  believe 
these  principles  are  of  general  application,  and  that 
the  success  of  Vineland  need  be,  by  no  means,  excep- 
tional. They  are,  substantially,  the  same  principles, 
which,  in  the  sketch  here  attempted  of  the  life  of  the 
people  of  Naguadavick,  are  relied  upon  for  the  success 
of  the  colonies  which  they  established  in  their  railroad 
villages.  As  I  am  well  aware,  however,  that  the  pos- 
sibility of  founding  such  villages  on  these  principles 
will  be  doubted,  I  am  glad  to  sustain  it  by  a  sketch 
of  the  origin  and  success  of  Vineland.  I  ask  any  per- 
son who  is  incredulous  to  go  and  visit  that  town. 

First,  and  chiefly,  Vineland  relies, — as  the  imagined 
towns  of  Rosedale  and  Aboo  Goosh  rely,  —  on  what  I 
may  call  the  natural  passion  for  holding  Land,  and 
the  beneficial  effects  of  Freehold  on  the  Freeholder. 
We  have  forgotten  these  effects  in  America,  simply 
because  land  was  to  be  got  for  the  asking  in  our 
fathers'  days,  and  is  to  be  got  for  the  asking  now  in 
many  regions.  Therefore,  in  a  social  condition  formed 
by  men  who  were  almost  all  freeholders,  we  neglect 
the  advantages  of  freehold  as  we  do  those  of  air, 
water,  light,  and  the  salt  sea.  But,  as  we  pile  people 
together  in  cities,  —  as  we  separate  them  from  their 
mother  earth,  —  as  we  make  them  tenants  of  one  and 
another  landlord,  we  do  our  best  to  unmake  the  vir- 
tues of  two  centuries'  growth,  which  sprang  from  the 
holding  of  one's  own  home  in  fee-simple.  The  free- 
holders of  New  England,  in  1775,  were  a  different 


124  SYBARIS  AND   OTHER   HOMES. 

race  of  beings  from  the  privates  in  the  English  regi- 
ments under  the  command  of  General  Gage  whom 
they  met  in  battle.  The  institutions  which  they  made, 
when  they  established,  in  1780,  the  Constitution  of 
Massachusetts,  —  and  when  they  established  after- 
wards the  other  constitutions  which  on  that  were 
patterned,  —  were  all  based  on  a  supposed  state  of 
society,  where  almost^  every  man  owned  his  home, 
had  a  stake  in  the  country,  as  the  English  say,  and 
.had  that  steadfast  desire  to  improve  the  town  in  which 
he  lived,  in  all  of  its  institutions,  which  to  such  real 
estate  belongs.  Real  estate,  indeed!  It  is  the  only 
estate  which  gives  man  firm  foothold.  It  represents 
the  only  wealth  which  does  not  easily  take  wings  and 
fly  away ! 

So  long  as  the  American  systems  are  tested  in  States 
where  most  men  still  have  freehold,  as  in  the  State  of 
Vermont,  for  instance,  they  work  as  regularly  and  as 
precisely  as  they  ever  did.  Let  me  copy  literally  the 
opinion  of  one  whose  opinion  in  such  a  matter  is 
worth  much  more  than  mine.  I  take  it  from  a  note 
on  my  table  addressed  to  me,  which  I  copy  literally, 
only  omitting  the  name  of  the  town  in  Illinois  where 
it  is  written.  It  is  from  a  boy  now  seventeen  years  old, 
who  in  Massachusetts  knew  the  inside  of  at  least  one 
jail,  and  was  always  in  hot  water. 

"July  27,  1869. 

"Mr.  Hale  Dear  Sir  i  Write  these  few" lines  to  let 
you  know  that  i  am  Well  and   hope   you  and  your 


HOW   THEY   LIVE  IN  VINELAND.  125 

family  ai'e  the  same  i  have  been  west  onwards  two 
years  i  have  been  Hving  on  a  farm  since  i  came  out 
here  i  have  clothed  myself  and  laid  up  my  money  i 
have  been  geting  $250  a  year  i  have  thought  of  buy- 
ing a  farm  and  takeing  my  mother  out  here  if  i  thought 
she  would  come  i  like  this  state  very  well  the  reason 
is  that  a  poor  man  can  get  a  home  in  a  little  while  if 
he  uses  his  means  proper  more  so  than  in  the  east  i 
wicli  you  would  give  me  some  information  where  my 
mother  is  and  tell  her  to  write  to  me  as  soon  as  posible 
as  i  am  anxious  about  her  if  you  think  i  am  worth  no- 
ticeing  i  wich  you  would  write  to  me  as  soon  as  you  get 
this  letter  and  eive  me  some  advice  on  this  matter  and 
tell  me  what  you  think  i  had  ought  to  do." 

Now  that  letter  is  a  little  deficient  in  commas,  but 
the  spelling  speaks  sufficiently  well  for  the  two  or 
three  winters'  schools  to  which  this  boy  was  sent  in  a 
mountain  town  in  Massachusetts.  And  I  would  give 
more  for  the  letter  as  an  exposition  of  the  real  worth 
of  Illinois  than  I  would  for  fifty  "  hifalutin  "  articles 
in  the  Chicago  or  the  Springfield  newspapers.  That 
Irish  boy  of  seventeen  has  found  the  root  of  this  mat- 
ter. He  can  get  a  home  in  Illinois,  though  he  is  poor, 
and  he  can  send  for  the  half-cracked  mother,  who 
spent  the  best  of  her  life,  after  her  husband  deserted 
them  both,  in  taking  care  of  him. 

Land,  —  or  Freehold,  —  in  short,  is  really  a  prime 
necessity.      It  is  necessary   that   almost   every    man 


126  SYBARIS   AND   OTHER  HOMES. 

should  have  a  fair  chance  at  Land,  —  held  in  his  own 
rjo-ht,  — if  you  mean  to  govern  America  by  its  origi- 
nal institutions. 

Now  if  a  man  means  to  be  a  farmer  there  is  no 
trouble  about  his  getting  this  land.  Between  Lord 
Ashburton's  line  on  the  northeast  and  Cape  Florida  on 
the  south,  and  Nootka  Sound  and  the  rest  of  the  Pacific 
Ocean  on  the  west,  there  is  plenty  of  land  —  and 
the  best  of  land,  if  a  man  wants  literally  to  subdue 
the  earth  —  to  raise  the  food  from  it  for  his  own 
household,  and  to  sell  to  the  more  civiHzed  lands 
the  surplus  he  has  left.  According  to  the  free-traders 
this  is  what  we  all  ought  to  be  doing.  We  ought  to 
stop  this  singing  of  songs,  wearing  of  clothes,  printing 
of  books,  carving  of  statues,  digging  in  mines,  and 
ought  to  devote  ourselves  to  the  "  providential  duty"  of 
America  in  raising  breadstuffs  and  cotton  for  the  rest  of 
the  world.  But  even  Adam  Smith  made  books,  instead 
of  working  at  a  loom  in  Glasgow,  as  by  his  own  theory 
he  should  have  done.  And  the  good  sense  of  the  peo- 
ple of  America  prefers  God's  order  to  the  order  of  the 
Economists.  It  prefers  to  develop  each  human  gift  as 
it  appears,  and  so  to  "vary  human  industry,  that,  on 
our  own  soil,  there  shall  be  fair  chance  for  each  class 
of  human  power.  If  Jonathan  Edwards  happens  to 
be  born  here,  we  give  him  a  chance  as  a  metaphysi- 
cian, though  by  the  theory  he  should  be  raising  In- 
dian corn.  If  Allston  is  born  here,  we  give  him  a 
chance  as  a  painter,  though  he  should  be  raising  indi- 


HOW   THEY  LIVE   IN   VINELAND.  127 

go.  We  once  let  Eli  Whitney  try  his  hand  as  an  in- 
ventor, though  he  should  have  been  laying  stone -wall 
in  Connecticut,  by  the  theory.  By  our  latitude  in 
that  one  case  we  created  the  cotton  crop  of  America. 
We  let  Fulton  build  steamboats,  and  Norris  and  Ross 
and  Winans  build  locomotives,  and  De  Witt  Clinton 
build  canals,  and  Nathan  Hale  build  railroads,  though 
by  the  theory  all  of  them  should  be  hoeing,  or  at  the 
best  erindino;.  And  so,  after  two  or  three  centuries  of 
varied  industry,  we  have  a  civilization  of  the  highest 
grade,  —  wholly  different  from  the  low  agricultural 
civilization  of  Southern  Russia,  of  Poland,  and  of  Ire- 
land. We  have  millions  of  people,  gathering  in  and 
near  large  towns  for  purposes  of  commerce  and  manu- 
facture ;  —  and  yet  we  have  and  we  love  institutions 
which  are  based  essentially  on  the  idea  that  the  very 
great  majority  of  the  people  of  the  State  shall  be  free- 
holders, and  shall  be  controlled,  in  their  motives  and  in 
their  action,  by  those  considerations  which  to  the  pos- 
session of  Land  infallibly  belong. 

Nobody  but  Mrs.  Partington  expects  to  sweep  back 
these  thronging  millions  from  the  towns  to  the  prairies 
by  nice  little  half-column  articles  in  the  daily  papers, 
on  the  joys  of  Agricultural  Life.  If  the  men  who 
write  these  Idyls  like  the  prairies,  why  do  not  they  go 
to  them  themselves  ?  That  is  the  fierce  question 
which  young  men  from  the  country  and  young  girls 
from  the  country  ask,  —  men  and  girls  who  have 
forced  their  way  to  the  large  towns  and  their  excite- 


128  SYBARIS  AND   OTHER  HOMES. 

merits  and  occupations,  precisely  because  their  own 
tastes  or  aptitudes  lay  in  the  direction  of  commerce  or 
of  handiwork  or  of  fine  art,  and  precisely  because 
they  did  not  choose  to  continue  in  the  duties  which 
the  life  of  a  farmer  compelled.  We  cannot  undo  the 
eternal  laws  of  our  civilization.  We  cannot  keep 
our  bread  and  eat  it  too.  We  cannot  have  large 
cities,  with  the  stimulus  they  give  in  civilization,  and 
at  the  same  time  send  all  our  young  people  to  fence  in 
prairies,  and  raise  breadstuffs.  The  plaintive  appeals 
addressed  by  those  who  have  got  their  seats  for  the 
spectacle  to  those  who  are  crowding  on  the  outside  — 
that  they  will  all  be  pleased  to  go  away  —  are  scarcely 
heard.  When  they  are  heard  it  is  by  those  who  are 
quite  incredulous,  though  they  are  told  that  there  is 
not  even  standing  room  within. 

I.  Freehold  is  taken  for  granted  in  the  theory  of 
American  institutions. 

II.  Compact  Cities  are  necessary  for  modem 
civilization. 

How  are  these  two  necessities  to  be  reconciled  ? 

Where  the  cities  are  not  large  the  tendency  and 
habit  of  American  institutions  asserts  itself,  and  the 
workmen  in  the  shops  of  cities  are  at  the  same  time 
freeholders  in  the  immediate  neighborhood  of  their 
work.  In  the  city  of  Worcester,  in  Massachusetts, 
there  are  about  thirty-five  thousand  persons  at  the 
present  time,  of  whom  I  suppose  nine  tenths  are  en- 


HOW  THEY   LIVE   IN   VINELAND.  129 

gaged  in  manufacture.  As  in  all  manufacturing 
towns,  the  proportion  of  persons  not  living  in  families 
is  large.  There  were  in  May,  1868,  9,137  men  over 
eighteen  years  of  age.  I  suppose  five  thousand  of 
these  may  have  been  heads  of  families.  To  live  in, 
these  families  had  3,849  houses,  the  average  number 
of  inhabitants  to  a  house  beincr  as  low  as  eioht  and 
nine  tenths,  —  singularly  low  for  a  manufacturing 
town.  The  number  of  resident  persons,  firms,  and 
corporations  which  pay  taxes  on  real  estate  was  as  high 
as  2,924.  It  would  probably  be  safe  to  say  that  in  that 
manufacturing  town  one  half  the  voters  are  free- 
holders, own  their  own  houses  and  reside  in  them, 
having  obtained  freehold  in  the  neighborhood  of  their 
work.  A  circle  of  four  miles  diameter,  of  which  each 
point  would  be  within  two  miles  of  the  city  hall, 
would  give  twenty-four  thousand  lots  of  a  quarter- 
acre  each,  allowing  a  quarter  of  the  space  for  roads 
and  parks.  On  the  usual  computation  of  seven  per- 
sons to  a  family,  a  city  whose  workshops  occupied  a 
square  mile  might  give  a  freehold  of  a  quarter-acre 
to  one  hundred  and  thirty  thousand  people,  all  within 
a  mile  and  a  half  of  the  workshop  square ;  and  yet  no 
person  should  live  in  a  house  with  more  than  seven 
inhabitants. 

The  advantage  which  newly  formed  towns  like 
Worcester  have  in  such  regards  is  very  great.  In  old 
towns  like  Boston  it  is  very  difficult  for  the  laboring 
man  to  get  freehold  near  his  work ;  he  becomes  a  ten- 

6*  I 


130  SYBARIS  AND   OTHER  HOMES. 

ant,  and  the  tenement-liouse  system  comes  in,  witli  all 
its  disadvantages. 

But  at  this  point  the  invention  of  railroads  relieves, 
or  may  relieve,  the  crowd  upon  the  towns. 

Any  village  within  fifteen  miles  of  a  commercial  or 
manufacturing  town  is  within  half  an  hour  of  it  by 
express  train.  Now  half  an  hour  between  home  and 
work  meets  the  requisition  of  a  laboring  man. 

A  circle  of  fifteen  miles'  radius  includes  rather 

more  than  433.580  acres. 

Give  a  quarter  of  this,  or        ...        .         108.395     " 


to  roads  and  parks,  and  you  have  left  .  325.185  acres 

for  workshops  and  homes. 

Give  eight  thousand  acres  to  shops  and  warehouses, 
—  that  is,  a  block  three  miles  by  four  miles  in  the 
middle  of  the  circle,  —  and  you  have  left  three  hun- 
dred and  seventeen  thousand  acres.  This,  if  you 
chose  to  divide  it  so,  would  be  a  freehold  acre-lot  for 
so  many  families  ;  for  a  population,  that  is  to  say,  of 
two  millions  and  a  quarter,  none  of  whom  should  live 
in  the  "  business  part  of  the  town,"  none  of  them  in  a 
house  of  more  than  seven  inhabitants,  and  each  of 
them  with  a  garden  of  an  acre. 

This  is  the  theoretical  combination  of  tlie  advan- 
tages of  freehold,  and  the  advantages  of  compact  cities. 

But,  as  every  reader  knows,  the  practice  does  not 
approach  this  theory. 

1.    In  cases  of  seaboard   cities  a   laro-e   deduction 


HOW   THEY   LIVE  IN  VINELAND.  131 

must  be  made  for  that  part  of  the  circle   which  is 
covered  by  "water. 

2.  The  raih'oad  companies  in  general  are  compass- 
ing sea  and  land  io  get  another  barrel  of  flour  or 
another  passenger  from  a  thousand  miles  away,  uncon- 
scious that  they  can  make  their  richer  market  at  their 
doors.  One  passenger  from  New  York  is  shot  into  Bos- 
ton with  the  highest  speed  science  can  give,  for  a  thou- 
sand who  are  left  to  linger  along  in  the  doldrums  of 
local  trains.  But  the  time  of  the  distant  traveller  is 
not  a  whit  more  important  than  that  of  the  neighbor. 

3.  The  landholder  thinks  his  duty  done  when  he 
cuts  his  land  into  small  lots  and  offers  it  for  sale.  The 
truth  is  that  land  of  itself  is  the  most  worthless  of 
commodities.  To  induce  the  laborer  from  the  city  to 
buy  the  land  many  intermediate  steps  must  be  taken. 
Of  many  of  these  steps  we  have  valuable  suggestion 
in  the  experience  of  Vineland. 

It  is  perfectly  true  that  in  the  neighborhood  of  all 
large  cities  may  be  seen  tracts  with  the  lines  of  paper 
roads  dimly  shadowed  on  them,  with  one  or  two  cot- 
tages orndes  tumbling  to  ruin,  which  are  held  up  as 
the  illustrations  of  the  failure  of  efforts  to  induce  la- 
boring men  to  live  in  the  country.  In  truth,  they  are 
only  illustrations  of  the  folly  which  supposes  that,  in 
a  country  of  intelligent  men,  any  man  can  sell  by  the 
foot  at  high  prices  what  he  bought  by  the  acre  at  low, 
without  doing  anything  himself  to  improve  the  condi- 
tion of  the  property. 


132  SYBARIS   AND   OTHER  HOMES. 

1.  People  will  not  establish  themselves  in  any  vil- 
lage of  small  holdings,  unless  it  is  large  enough,  or  prom- 
ises to  be  large  enough,  to  give  them  society,  and,  with 
society,  the  amusements,  the  instruction,  and  mutual 
advantages  of  other  kinds  which  society  affords.  The 
town  must  be  large  enough  for  two  or  three  churches 
at  least,  for  good  schools,  for  public  entertainments  of 
different  grades,  and  for  the  vivacity  which  belongs  to 
city  life,  or  the  laboring  men  will  stay  in  the  city. 
This  requires  an  enterprise  involving  at  least  one 
thousand  families.  Six  hundred  acres  of  land,  at 
the  very  least,  are  needed  to  offer  to  each  settler 
the  attractions  which  are  indispensable.  One  or  two 
thousand  would  be  better. 

In  the  establishment  of  Vineland,  Mr.  Landis,  the 
founder,  was  not  looking  to  draw  men  out  from  cities. 
I  suppose  he  would  be  quite  as  willing  that  men  used 
to  city  life  should  not  come.  He  was  trying  to  build 
up  a  community  of  small  farmers.  But  even  he  saw 
the  necessity  of  compact  village  life.  The  centre  of 
Vineland  is  a  village  of  six  hundred  acres,  crossed 
by  eight  streets,  running  one  way,  and  in  the  middle 
of  all,  by  the  broad  avenue  of  which  the  railroad  is 
the  middle ;  —  and  across  the  other  way  by  nine 
streets,  with  Landis  Avenue.  The  village  lots  were 
originally  fifty  feet  wide.  Mr.  Landis  gave  land  for 
the  erection  of  churches ;  and,  as  he  could,  encour- 
aged horticultural,  scientific,  and  other  societies,  which 
aimed   at  entertainment   and   mutual    improvement. 


HOW   THEY   LIVE  IN  VINELAND.  133 

Outside  of  tins  village,  Mr.  Landis  laid  off  farm  lots, 
from  five  to  twenty  acres  and  iipwai'ds,  which  now 
cover  a  tract  of  more  than  forty  thousand  acres. 

I  am  confident  that  the  success  of  Vineland  is  due, 
first,  to  the  very  magnitude  of  the  scale  on  which  it 
is  planned.  Most  of  us  would  be  wilhng  to  live  in  a 
community  of  ten  thousand  people.  But  it  is  only 
exceptional  persons  who  really  prefer  the  solitude  of  a 
hamlet  of  twenty  or  thirty. 

2.  The  new-fledged  freeholder,  who  has  bought 
himself  a  half-acre  lot  in  some  Mount  Vernon  or 
Mount  Bellingham  speculation  near  a  large  city,  is. 
apt  to  find  that  all  the  hardships  of  land-owning  come 
upon  him  long  before  the  advantages  can  develop. 
The  day  of  the  auction  sale  he  was  quite  a  hero.  He 
had  a  free  ticket  to  ride  to  the  spot.  He  had  cham- 
pagne, crackers,  and  cheese  without  charge.  He  was, 
that  day,  the  companion  and  friend  of  all  the  direc- 
tors. The  new  roads  were  in  perfect  order.  The 
trains  came  and  went  exactly  as  the  exigencies  of  the 
sale  required.  But,  before  he  has  owned  his  land  a 
month,  he  has  learned  that  the  fence  to  it  will  cost 
him  more  than  the  land  cost  him.  The  road  has 
washed  badly  in  a  shower,  and  he  cannot  find  anybody 
whose  business  it  is  to  repair  it.  No  grocer  is  yet 
established  in  the  neighborhood.  And  the  railroad  no 
longer  runs  a  train  in  and  out  when  it  is  wanted.  He 
does  not  know  any  of  the  other  new  land-owners.  He 
finds  that  the  directors  of  the  land  company  no  longer 


134  SYBAEIS   AND   OTHER  HOMES. 

*- 

know  him  ;  and  that  they  are  naturally  quite  indiffer- 
ent to  his  difficulties.  The  only  new  acquaintance  he 
makes  is  the  tax  collector,  who  begins  assessing  his 
real  estate  at  the  auction  price.  And  when  he  talks 
with  a  mason  about  building,  he  is  told  they  must  be- 
gin by  digging  a  well  on  each  of  these  little  lots, 
for  which  he  begins  to  think  they  have  all  paid  very 
high. 

In  Vineland  Mr.  Landis  met  most  of  these  difficul- 
ties in  advance,  by  methods  which,  as  I  beheve,  must 
be  imitated  by  any  one  who  wishes  for  success.  He 
went  and  lived  in  his  own  town,  and  made  the  estab- 
lishmejit  of  the  town  his  business.  There  was  at  least 
somebody  on  hand  who  wanted  to  have  the  establish- 
ment succeed.  By  a  master  stroke  of  policy,  fortu- 
nately easily  imitated  under  the  law  of  Massachusetts, 
he  took  away  all  necessity  for  fencing,  by  keeping  all 
cattle  closely  confined.  On  the  other  hand,  he  bound 
each  purchaser  to  mal^e  certain  improvements  within 
twelve  months  ;  so  that  there  cannot  be  in  Vineland 
many  of  the  odious  empty  corner  lots,  waiting  to  become 
valuable,  which  disgrace  most  new  towns.  Among 
the  improvements  required  of  each  purchaser  was  the 
seeding  with  grass  of  the  sides  of  tlie  highway,  the 
planting  of  shade-trees  along  the  streets  and  avenues, 
and  a  fixed  line  was  given,  before  which  the  fronts  of 
the  houses  must  not  be  carried.  By  these  arrange- 
ments alone  many  of  the  drawbacks  which  sicken  a 
new  freeholder  of  his  bargain  are  effectually  removed. 


HOW   THEY   LIVE   IN   VINELAND.  135 

• 

If  you  go  to  Vineland,  you  find  near  the  station  a 
decent-looking  hotel,  which,  when  I  saw  it,  made  no 
pretence,  but  seemed  comfortable  enough,  —  which  is, 
clearly  enough,  in  the  interest  of  the  proprietor.  You 
enter  your  name  on  the  book,  and,  before  long,  a 
man  accosts  you,  who  asks  if  you  wish  to  see  the  place. 
If  you  say  you  do,  he  says  it  is  his  business  to  show  it  to 
you,  and  that  if  you  like  to  take  his  guidance,  he  will  be 
ready  with  a  carriage  when  you  say,  —  without  charge 
to  you.  Meanwhile  you  can  look  at  the  plans,  where 
you  will  find  the  prices  of  unimproved  property  marked. 
He  will  own  that  he  shall  try  to  make  you  see  the 
place  to  advantage,  that  he  has  a  commission  on  each 
sale  he  makes  ;  but  you  are  of  course  at  liberty  to  go 
with  or  without  his  guidance.  Probably  you  take  his 
guidance.  He  drives  you  up  and  down  well-built  ave- 
nues and  roads,  shows  you  village  lots,  farm  lots,  the 
general  plan  of  the  settlement,  and  answers  your 
questions  as  well  as  he  can. 

You  finally  think  you  should  like  such  or  such  a 
place  which  you  have  seen,  and  say  you  will  go  home 
and  ask  your  wife.  "  As  you  please,"  says  the  agent, 
"  but  if  you  buy  at  first  hand  you  must  take  your 
chances.  If  another  purchaser  appears  to-morrow, 
why,  we  shall  sell  to  him."  If  you  agree  to  purchase 
to-day,  favorable  terms  are  given  as  to  times  of  pay- 
ment, which  extend  over  four  years  ;  but  invariably 
tlie  conditions  which  have  been  alluded  to  are  exacted. 
No  person  buys,  unless  he  expects  to  become  himself 


436  SYBARIS  AND   OTHER  HOMES. 

• 
a  settler.      It  is  evident,  from  all  conversation  with 

the  people  of  the  place,  that  they  have  taught  them- 
selves to  regard  any  land  speculator  who  comes  be- 
tween the  original  holder  and  the  inhabitant  of  the  land 
as  an  unendurable  nuisance.  But  they  do  not  regard 
Mr.  Landis  so,  I  think.  Their  purchases  have  made 
him  rich,  and  they  know  it.  But  he  has  identified 
himself  with  the  success  of  the  place.  He  has  kept 
up  the  highways  at  his  own  charge.  The  business 
of  the  town  is  raising  fruit.  Mr.  Landis  appoints  an 
agent  who  carries  all  fruit  for  the  settlers  to  Philadel- 
phia or  New  York,  sells  it,  and  remits  the  full  pro- 
ceeds to  the  producer,  without  any  charge  on  them. 
This  is,  of  course,  in  theory,  false  political  economy. 
But  see  at  how  low  a  charge  it  encourages  the  be- 
ginnings of  the  industry  on  which  the  town  is  to  rest. 
Under  a  similar  policy  he  has  borne  the  principal  part 
of  the  expense  of  draining  three  hundred  acres  of 
swamp,  from  which  muck  can  be  drawn  for  manure, 
and  has  given  to  each  settler  the  privilege  of  drawing 
for  his  own  use  as  much  as  he  needed.  During  the 
winter  of  1866-67  fifty  thousand  wagon-loads  of  this 
muck  were  removed  thus  by  the  settlers  from  the 
lands  of  the  proprietor  for  manure  for  their  own  farms 
and  gardens.  I  was  told  that  the  settlers  went  with 
confidence  to  Mr.  Landis  as  a  friend  who  would  pull 
industrious  men  out  of  difficulties.  I  see  that  he  is 
an  officer  in  almost  every  one  of  the  innumerable  so- 
cieties. 


HOW   THEY  LIVE  IN   VINELAND.  137 

In  the  year  1866  the  Agricultural  Society  paid  an  aggregate 
amount  in  premiiuns  of  two  hundred  and  twelve  dollars,  while 
the  Floral  Society  distributed  in  premiums  twenty-three  dollars. 

In  the  same  year  (1866)  j\Ir.  Landis  distributed  the  following 
list  of  premiums  :  — 

One  hundred  dollars  to  be  divided  in  two  sums,  for  the  best 
essay  upon  the  history  of  the  place ;  to  be  detemdned  under  the 
supervision  of  the  Historical  Society. 

One  hundred  dollars,  to  be  divided  in  two  sums,  for  the  best 
essay  in  Prose,  and  the  best  in  Poetry. 

One  hundred  dollars  to  the  Agricultural  and  Horticultural 
Society,  to  be  distributed  as  premiums  for  the  best  specimens  in 
Produce. 

One  hundi-ed  dollars  to  the  Agi'icultural  and  Horticultural 
Society,  to  be  distributed  as  premiums  for  the  best  specimen  of 
Fruit. 

One  hundi-ed  dollars,  to  be  divided  into  two  prize  gold  medals 
with  proper  inscriptions,  to  the  two  male  and  female  scholars 
who  shall  each  be  pronounced  the  most  proficient  scholar,  inde- 
pendent of  any  other  consideration. 

One  himdred  dollars  to  the  two  male  and  female  scholars  over 
fourteen  years  of  age,  and  not  over  eighteen  years  of  age,  who 
shall  each  be  pronounced  the  most  proficient  scholar,  independ- 
ent of  any  other  consideration. 

One  hundred  dollars  to  the  Band  of  Music,  for  which  they 
are  to  give  six  pubHc  concerts,  —  three  in  the  open  air  in  sum- 
mer, and  three  in  winter. 

One  hundred  dollars,  in  two  gold  medals,  with  proper  inscrip- 
tions, to  the  persons  most  gi-aceful  in  and  proficient  in  gymnas- 
tics. 

Fifty  dollars,  in  a  gold  medal,  to  the  lady  who  cultivated  the 
hest  flower-garden  with  her  own  hands. 

In  addition  to  the  premiums  offered  by  the  Agri- 


138  SYBARIS  AND   OTHER  HOMES. 

cultural  Society  in  1867,  Mr.  Landis  offered  the  fol- 
lowing :  — 

Twenty  dollars  and  certificate  for  the  best  acre  of  broom-corn. 

Twenty  dollars  and  certificate  for  tlie  best  acre  of  field  car^ 
rots. 

Twenty  dollars  and  certificate  for  the  best  acre  of  field  tur- 
nips. 

Twenty  dollars  for  the  best  kept  farm. 

Twenty  dollars  for  the  best  kept  orchard,  not  less  than  two 
acres. 

Fifty  dollars  to  the  lady  who  cultivates  the  best  flower-gar- 
den with  her  own  hands. 

One  hundred  dollars,  to  be  divided  between  the  two  male 
and  female  scholars,  not  over  eighteen  years  of  age,  who  shall 
be  pronounced  the  most  proficient  scholars. 

One  hundred  dollars,  to  be  divided  between  the  three  per- 
sons who  are  the  best  players  on  the  violin,  cornet  or  bugle,  and 
flute ;  to  be  played  at  the  Fair,  and  decided  by  the  committee. 

Fifty  dollars  to  the  lady  most  proficient  in  gymnastics. 

Fifty  dollars  to  the  gentleman  most  proficient  in  heavy  gym- 
nastics. 

I  may  say,  in  brief,  as  a  summary  of  this  part  of  my 
observations  on  Vineland,  that  it  is  the  only  new  place 
I  ever  visited  where  I  have  found  the  greater  part 
of  the  women  satisfied.  Pioneer  life  —  the  establish- 
ing of  new  communities  —  comes  very  hard  upon  the 
women.  The  men  have  the  excitement ;  the  women 
generally  have  hard  work  at  home  without  excitement. 
The  men  find  their  society  as  they  do  their  daily  work. 
The  women  generally  are  left  alone  to  theirs.  But 
in  Vineland,  even  when  it  was  but  four  years  old,  I 


IIO\V    THEY    LIVE   IN    VIXELAND  139 

found  intense  activity  everywhere,  and  I  spoke  to 
no  woman  who  was  not  well  satisfied  with  the  social 
experiment  which  was  undertaken  there. 

3.  It  will  not  unfrequently  happen  that  the  purchas- 
er fails  to  make  the  improvement  to  which  he  is 
pledged,  and  that  the  land  therefore  recurs  to  I\Ir. 
Landis.  In  this  case,  when  he  oflfers  the  land  again 
for  sale,  he  changes  the  price  from  what  it  was,  as  the 
circumstances  may  justify.  But  in  general  the  price 
of  unimproved  land  remains  unchanged,  INIr.  Landis 
relying  for  his  profits  on  the  continual  improvements 
of  the  settlement,  which  of  course  quicken  sales,  as  the 
population  enlarges.  What  reason  he  has  for  such 
reliance  may  be  judged  from  the  following  record  of 
progress. 

In  1861  one  shanty  was  built  on  the  new  village 
lot. 

In  1862  twenty-five  houses  were  built,  a  store,  and 
a  school-house. 

In  1863  one  hundred  and  fifteen  houses  were  built, 
and  at  the  end  of  the  year  three  hundred  and  sixty- 
nine  purchases  of  land  had  been  made. 

At  the  end  of  1864  six  hundred  and  seventy  farms 
had  been  sold  ;  and  on  the  1st  of  January,  1865, 
nearly  two  thousand  persons  attended  Mr.  Landis's 
annual  reception.  As  a  token  of  regard  they  pre- 
sented to  him  "  Appleton's  Cyclopaedia." 

In  1865  about  two  hundred  buildings  were  erected, 
and  at  the  end  Mr.  Landis  had  sold  about  fourteen 


140  SYBARIS   AND   OTHER  HOMES. 

hundred  properties.  Nearly  one  thousand  contracts 
to  build  were  made  in  this  year. 

At  the  end  of  1867  nearly  two  thousand  farms  had 
been  sold. 

The  following  table,  recently  published,  shows  what 
various  institutions  had  come  into  being  in  this  period. 
Many  of  these  are  doubtless  larger  on  paper  than  any- 
where else,  still  they  represent  something. 

I.  Manufacturing  Interests. 

1.  American  Building  Block  Factory. 

2.  Twelve  Stone  Quames. 

3.  Three  Brick  Yards. 

4.  Six  Steam  Mills,  Planing  Mills,  and  three  Lumber  Yards. 

5.  Door,  Blind,  and  Sash  Factories. 

6.  Carriage  Factories. 

7.  Saw  and  Plane  Handle  Manufactory. 

8.  Wood-turning  and  Scroll-sawing  Manufactory. 

9.  Shoe  Factory. 

10.  Pottery  and  Stone-Ware  Manufactory. 

11.  Straw-sewing  Business. 

12.  Crates  and  Fruit-Boxes  Business. 

13.  Bookbinding  and  Paper-Box  and  Fancy  Varieties  Busi- 
ness. 

14.  Clothing  Business. 

15.  Hoop-Skirt  Manufacturing. 

16.  Button  Business. 

n.  Agricultural  and  Kindred  Societies. 

1.  Vineland  Agricultural  and  Horticultural  Association. 

2.  Ladies'  Floral  Society. 

[Strawberry  Festivals  and  annual  Fair  and  Exhibition  under 
the  auspices  of  the  above.] 


HOW   THEY   LIVE  IN   YINELAJH).  141 

3.  Pomological  Association. 

4.  Fruit  Growers'  Association. 

5.  Co-operative  Association. 

6.  Landis  Avenue  Impi-ovement  Association. 

7.  East  Vineland  Agricultural  and  Pomological  Society. 

8.  South  Vineland  Fruit-Growers'  Club. 

9.  Lincoln  Mutual  Benefit  Farmers'  Club. 

10.  North  Vineland  Agricultural  and  Horticultural  Society. 

11.  Forest  Grove  Agricultural  Society. 

m.  'Change  a>t)  Business  Facilities. 

1.  Private  Bank. 

2.  Safe  Deposit  Company. 

3.  Mercantile  Association. 

4.  Vindand  Loan  and  Lnprovement  Association. 

5.  Three  Post-Offices,  one  of  which  does  a  far  larger  business 
than  any  other  in  West  Jersey. 

IV.  Temperance  and  Physical  Reform. 

Tf  Intoxicating  Liquors  Voted  out  of  Vineland,  July  10,  1863 

§  Township  law  to  that  effect. 

1.  Independent  Order  of  Good  Templars. 

a.  Alpha  Temple. 

1.  Liberty,  Excelsior,  Rising  Sim,  and  Koh-i-noor  Lodges. 

2.  Health  Association. 

3.  Phil-Athletic  Club. 

4.  Base  Club. 

V.  Educational  Privileges. 

1.  Sixteen  District  Schools,  at  convenient  distances  from  all 
parts  of  the  Tract. 

2.  Four  Private  Schools.  ^ 

3.  Classical  Institute.  ^ 


142  SYBARIS   AND    OTHER   HOMES. 

4.  Young  Ladies'  and  Gentlemen's  Academy. 

5.  Metliodist  Conference  Seminary,  now  building,  142  feet 
long,  56  feet  wide  at  tlie  ends,  and  44  feet  in  the  centre. 
Height  from  ground  to  top  of  cornice,  50  feet.  Lofty  French 
roof,  spacious  cupola,  porticos,  piazzas,  balconies,  &c.  Style^ 
—  Large  Italian,  (whatever  that  may  be.) 

6.  Societies  of  Art  and  Learning. 

a.  Vineland  Historical  and  Antiquarian  Society. 
h.  Pioneers'  Association. 

c.  Literary  Association. 

d.  The  People's  Lyceum. 

e.  Hamilton  Mutual  Benefit  Society. 
/.   Vineland  Library  Association. 

g.  Harmonic  Society,  Glee  Clubs,  and  Cornet  and  other 
bands,  &c. 

h.  Dramatic  Association. 

i.   Social  Science  Association. 

j.  Lectures,  exhibitions,  festivals,  and  other  varied  intellectual 
entertainments,  periodical  and  extraordinary. 

VI.  Benevolent  Societies,  &c. 

1.  A.  F.  of  A.  M. :  —  Masonic  Hall. 

2.  L  O.  of  O.  F. 

3.  Philanthropic  Loan  Association. 

VII.  Public  Halls,  Parks,  Squares,  &c. 

1.  Plum  Street  Hall. 

2.  Mechanics'  Hall. 

3.  Union  Hall. 

4.  The  Park,  covering  forty-eight  acres. 

5.  Thirteen  Public  Squares. 

6.  Siloam  Cemetery,  covering  fourteen  acres,  beautifully  laid 
out.  • 

7-  Public  Adornments. 


HOW   THEY  LIVE  m   VINELAND.  143 

Vni.    Religious  Societies. 

I.  Episcopalian.  —  Trinity  Church  (Gothic),  on  Ehner  Street. 
2'.  Presbyterian.  —  Church  (Light  Italian),  on  Landis  Avenue. 

3.  Methodist.  —  Church  (Romanesque),  on  Landis  Avenue. 

4.  Baptist.  —  Reed's  Hall.  Large  Church  (Byzantine  Ro- 
manesque), now  being  erected  on  Landis  Avenue. 

5.  Free-Will  Baptists. 

6.  Sabbatarian. 

7.  Baptist  Congregational.  —  Church  (Italesque),  in  South 
Vineland. 

8.  Union.  —  Chm-ch  (Italesque),  in  South  Vineland. 

9.  Adventist. 

10.  Unitarian.  —  Church  (Plain  Gothic,)  on  Sixth  and  Elmer 
Streets. 

II.  Friends  of  Progress.  —  Plum  Street  H^U. 

12.  Catholic. —  Church  soon  to  be  ei-ected. 

13.  Young  People's  Union  Christian  Association. 

IX.    Miscellaneous. 

1.  Journalistic. 

a.  Two  weekly  newspapers  :  "  Vineland  Weekly  "  and  "  Vine- 
land  Independent." 

b.  One  bi-weekly  :  "  Vineland  Democrat." 

c.  Two  monthly  :  "  Vineland  Rural  "  and  "  Fanners'  Friend." 

2.  Political. 

a.  Union  League. 

b.  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic- 

c.  Two  Campaign  Clubs. 

The  steadiness  of  the  price  of  unimproved  lots  is  an 
inducement  to  every  resident  to  persuade  his  friends  and 
relatives  to  come  and  assist  in  the  enterprise.  Almost 
all  settlers,  in  this  way,  begin  to  feel  a  uecuniary  inter- 


144  SYBARIS  AND   OTHER  HOMES. 

est  in  the  success  of  the  whole.  If  a  settler  and  his 
wife  are  pleased,  —  if  they  see  the  rapid  advance  of  tlie 
value  of  land,  given  by  some  improvement,  they  become 
themselves  the  best  advertising  agents  ;  they  write  to 
relatives  or  friends  to  show  to  them  the  advantages  of  an 
investment  here ;  and  thus  add  to  the  growth  of  the 
establishment.  They  cannot  invest  in  unimproved 
lands  themselves,  without  making  the  required  im- 
provements. But  they  can  invite  their  friends  to 
come  and  make  them,  and  it  is  evident,  from  the  rapid 
growth  of  the  place,  that  this  is  what  they  have  done. 

That  Mr.  Landis  is  himself  kindly  regarded  by  the 
people  who  have  come  together  in  the  town  which  he 
has  founded  seems  evident  from  the  direction  which  a 
thousand  straws  take,  blown  by  the  wind  of  its  popu- 
lar opinion. 

4.  Early  in  the  settlement  of  Vineland  the  people 
of  the  town,  led  undoubtedly  by  Mr.  Landis,  deter- 
mined, with  great  unanimity,  that  they  would  not 
have  the  sale  of  intoxicating  liquor,  or  what  they  call 
"  saloons,"  and  we  call  "  bar-rooms."  They  sent  out 
of  town  the  first  dealer  who  sold  beer  to  the  boys  and 
wood-choppers,  and  called  a  meeting  which  passed 
resolutions,  and  formed  an  organization  to  prevent  the 
sale  of  intoxicating  liquors.     This  was  July  10,  1863. 

They  then,  by  a  very  curious  arrangement,  peti- 
tioned the  Legislature  of  New  Jersey,  to  pass  a  special 
law  precluding  the  sale  of  any  intoxicating  liquor,  beer, 
or  wine,   within  the  limit  of  Landis  township.     The 


HOW   THEY  LIVE   IN   VINELAND.  145 

Legislature  did  this  by  a  vote  of  sixty-three  to  four, 
on  the  ground,  probably,  that  the  people  asked  for  it, 
as  the  State  of  New  Jersey  has  no  such  general  policy. 
Each  offence  against  this  law  is  punishable  by  a  fine 
of  fifty  dollars  or  by  imprisonment  or  both. 

Of  course  this  peculiarity  keeps  from  Yineland  all 
settlers  who  wish  to  have  the  privilege  of  buying  and 
drinking  liquors  in  public.  There  is  no  restriction  on 
a  man's  buying  liquors  elsewhere  and  bringing  them 
to  his  house  to  use.  But  he  must  not  sell  them  in 
Vineland.  Mr.  Landis,  and  the  great  majority  of  the 
people  there,  are  very  willing  to  give  up  any  settlers 
whom  they  thus  lose.  There  is,  indeed,  in  most 
new  enterprises  of  land-settlement,  no  lack  of  open- 
ings for  them.  The  result  of  the  policy  is  shown  suc- 
cinctly in  the  following  report  from  the  Town  Consta- 
ble and  Overseer  of  the  Poor,  published  in  the  spring 
of  1869. 

As  Constable  and  Overseer  of  the  Poor  there  are  some  things 
in  my  department  which  show  so  conchisively  the  favorable 
workinj^  of  the  system  upon  which  Vineland  is  founded,  that 
1  will  give  the  information  to  the  public,  so  that  the  facts  may 
be  known  and  the  example  of  this  system  followed. 

The  two  principles  in  Vineland  which  we  recognize  as  upper- 
most are  :  First,  That  land  shall  not  be  sold  to  speculators ; 
second.  By  the  decision  of  the  people  that  there  shall  be  no 
grog-shops,  liquor  saloons,  licensed  taverns,  or  lager-beer  shops. 

What  is  the  practical  working  of  these  principles  ?  I  will 
state  a  few  facts  which  are  probably  unexampled  in  the  United 
States,  at  least.  Though  we  have  a  population  of  ten  thousand 
7  J 


146  SYBARIS   AND   OTHER   HOMES. 

people,  for  the  period  of  six  months  no  settler  or  citizen  of 
Vineland  has  required  relief  at  my  hands  as  Overseer  of  the 
Poor.  Within  seventy  days  there  has  been  only  one  case, 
among  what  we  call  the  floating  population,  at  the  expense  of 
four  dollars. 

During  the  entire  year  there  has  been  only  one  indictment, 
and  that  a  trifling  case  of  assault  and  battery  among  our  colored 
population. 

So  few  are  the  fires  in  Vineland  that  we  have  no  need  of  a 
fire  department.  There  has  only  been  one  house  burnt  down  in 
a  year,  and  two  slight  fires,  which  were  soon  put  out. 

We  practically  have  no  debt,  and  our  taxes  are  only  one  per 
cent  on  the  valuation. 

The  Police  expenses  of  Vineland  amount  to  seventy-five  dol- 
lars per  year,  the  sum  paid  to  me,  and  our  poor  expenses  are  a 
mere  trifle: 

I  ascribe  this  remarkable  state  of  things,  so  nearly  approach- 
ing the  Golden  Age,  to  the  industry  of  our  people  and  the  absence 
of  King  Alcohol. 

Let  me  give  you,  in  contrast  to  this,  the  state  of  things  in  the 
town  from  which  I  came,  in  New  England.  The  population  of 
the  town  was  9,500,  a  little  less  than  Vineland.  It  maintained 
forty  liquor-shops.  These  kept  busy  a  police  judge,  city  marshal, 
assistant  marshal,  four  night  watchmen,  six  policemen.  Fires 
were  almost  continual.  That  small  place  maintained  a  paid  fire 
department  of  four  companies,  of  forty  men  each,  at  an  expense 
of  three  thousand  dollars  per  annum.  I  belonged  to  this  depart- 
ment for  six  years,  and  the  fires  averaged  about  one  every  two 
weeks,  and  mostly  incendiary.  The  support  of  the  poor  cost 
two  thousand  five  hundred  dollars  per  annum.  The  debt  of  the 
township  was  one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  dollars.  The 
condition  of  tilings  in  this  New  England  town  is  as  favorable 
in  that  country  as  many  other  places  where  liquor  is  sold. 
T.  T.  CORTIS, 
Constable  and  Overseer  of  Poor  of  Landis  Toionship. 


HOW   TIIEY   LIVE   IN   VINELAND,  147 

5.  The  aim  of  Mv.  Landis,  from  the  beginning,  has 
been  to  build  np  a  community  of  which  the  central 
business  should  be  small  farming.  lie  has  no  such 
aims  as  had  the  foundei's  of  the  villages,  described  in 
this  volume,  who  wished  to  make  homes  for  the  labor- 
ers of  Naguadavick.  His  advertisements,  his  reports, 
and  his  plans  all  refer  to  the  advantages  of  the  place 
for  light  farming,  or  market  gardening  or  the  raising 
of  fruit.  To  this  object  he  has  applied  himself,  —  and 
in  his  effort  he  has  succeeded.  Of  course  a  great 
many  people  are  dissatisfied,  and  go  away.  In  the 
Vineland  papers  are  long  advertisements  of  improved 
property  offered  for  sale.  But  this  will  happen  in  all 
new  places.  The  restless  people  go  to  them  ;  the 
restless  people  leave  them.  People  who  succeed  in 
them  leave  them  for  a  larger  field.  People  who  fail 
leave  them  to  try  other  circumstances.  Indeed,  I  think 
I  could  show  tliat  of  a  given  number  of  persons  in  a 
community,  even  as  settled  as  is  Boston,  the  chances 
are,  taking  the  average  of  years,  that  one  twelfth  will 
have  removed  from  that  city  before  one  year  is  over. 
Vineland  is  no  Eden  or  Fairyland.  It  requires  work, 
j)erhaps  as  much  as  any  place  in  tlie  world.  But  by 
a  few  simple  arrangements  it  is  made  easy  for  people 
with  small  cajntal  to  establish  themselves  there.  It 
follows  that  large  numbers  do  establish  themselves, 
and  that,  of  those  numbers,  a  large  proportion  re- 
mains. The  following  letter  from  a  "  comparative 
cripple  "  —  a  carpenter-farmer  —  will  show  what  has 


148  SYBARIS  AND   OTHEK   HOJIES. 

been  done  in  a  single  instance,  which  seems  to  be  in 
no  way  exceptional. 

ViNELAND,  Landis  Avenue,  near  Main  Road,  May  6, 1868. 

Mr.  Editor,  —  I  have  thought  that  a  truthful  record  of  my 
farming  and  "  getting  along "  experience  generally  in  Vineland 
would  be  of  some  importance,  especially  as  bearing  on  the  pros- 
pects of  success  which  have  hitherto  opened,  and  still  continue 
open  here,  to  an  industrious  person  of  small  capital.  To  that 
effect  I  hereby  treat  you  to  the  following  "  fireside  talk,"  which 
can  be  any  day  fully  verified  by  the  closest  investigation. 

I  have  resided  in  Vineland  for  four  years.  I  came  here  with 
my  family,  consisting  of  my  wife,  one  son,  who  lost  an  arm  at 
Gettysburg,  and  two  grown-up  daughters,  from  Canaan,  Maine. 
My  occupation  there  was  the  manufacturing  of  bedsteads  and 
general  teaming,  with  some  little  farming.  This  brought  me  in, 
during  six  years,  an  average  of  one  hundred  dollars  clear  an- 
nually ;  but  I  must  say  that  my  ambition  was  but  very  poorly 
satisfied  with  such  small  "  pay  "  for  very  heavy  work. 

As  it  happened  my  daughter  came  across  a  "  Vineland  Eural." 
We  all  perused  it  attentively,  and,  after  careful  deliberation, 
unanimously  decided  that  we  would  give  a  fair  trial  to  Vineland, 
more  on  account  of  our  health  than  anything  else,  as  we  had  for 
some  time  come  to  the  conclusion  that  a  milder  latitude  than 
that  of  Maine  would  be  decidedly  beneficial  to  us  all.  And  I 
would  here  say  that  I  was  then  a  comparative  crijjple,  and  have 
been  for  a  long  time  constantly  suffering  from  a  most  annoying 
chronic  disease,  which  all  people,  professional  and  otherwise, 
naturally  pronounced  irremediable. 

Well,  I  came  and  saw  Vineland,  travelled  some  over  the  tract, 
investigated,  thought,  pondered,  and  finally  made  up  my  mind 
to  settle.  After  paying  my  debts  in  Maine,  and  moving  my 
i'aiiiily  here,  I  found  that  we  had  left,  in  all,  two  horses  and  one 
fil't}'-dollar  bill.     But  we  had  made  up  our  minds  not  to  feel  dis- 


HOW   THEY   LIVE  IN   \1NELAND.     .  149 

couragctl,  come  what  will.  I  -went  at  once  to  work  with  my  horses, 
stump-pulling,  at  four  dollars  per  day.  After  a  -wliile,  and  by  pretty 
strict  economy,  I  bought  the  machine,  improved  it  somewhat, 
and  pulled  all  the  stumps  put  in  my  way,  "  on  my  own  hook." 
As  we  had  in  the  mean  time  (as  well  as  for  some  time  after)  no 
house  to  go  into,  I  hired  two  rooms  at  two  dollars  per  week ; 
bought  a  small  cook-stove  and  a  few  other  necessary  utensils ; 
"  kept  house  in  a  small  way,"  and  got  along  pretty  comfortably  on 
the  whole.  In  a  short  time,  comparatively,  I  was  enabled  to 
pay  one  fourth  cash  down,  namely,  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  dollars  for  twenty-five  acres  of  wild  land,  five  acres  on  Landis 
Avenue,  on  which  I  reside,  and  twenty  on  Chestnut  Avenue. 
Then  I  bought  me  another  macliine,  continued  to  stump  for  my 
neighbors  and  to  clear  my  own  land,  bought  another  pair  of 
horses,  and  also  a  pair  of  mules.  From  then  till  now,  I  "  kept 
at  it "  pretty  closely.  We  all  of  us  lived  well  enough,  got  su- 
premely satisfied  with  the  capacities  of  the  soil,  raised  excellent 
truck  and  fruit,  and  this  day  I  have  all  my  land  cleared,  thir- 
teen acres  thoroughly  stumped,  three  acres  set  to  grape-vines, 
three  acres  in  blackberries,  two  acres  in  blackcap  raspberries, 
half  an  acre  in  Philadelphia  raspberries,  beside  four  hundred 
and  twenty-five  apple-trees,  three  hundred  and  seventy-six  pear- 
trees,  twenty  peach-trees,  with  some  cm-rant  and  gooseberry 
bushes,  all  in  fine  growing  condition.  From  what  I  have  tested 
in  the  cidtivation  of  sweet  and  Irish  potatoes  I  have  determined 
to  set  four  acres  in  each.  I  also  raise  every  year  lots  of  gar- 
den vegetables,  —  onions,  beets,  carrots,  parsnips,  cabbages,  &c., 
—  and  with  this  garden  produce  we  are  highly  satisfied. 

J\Iy  dwelling-house,  which  I  intend  to  enlarge  and  trim  up 
generally  as  we  go  along,  is  of  wood,  sixteen  feet  by  twenty-sLx 
main  building,  with  an  L  thu-teen  feet  by  twenty-three,  all  one 
story  and  a  half  The  stables  are  thirty-six  by  twenty-eight. 
And,  by  the  by,  this  leads  me  to  state  that  I  intend  going  into  rais- 
ing grass  and  hay  at  no  distant  day,  having  already  been  duly 


150  SYBABIS  AND   OTHER  HOMES. 

deliberating  on  tliat  subject,  as  a  thing  wliicli,  by  proper  atten- 
tion, will  pay  and  pay  well  in  Vineland.  Tbe  nearest  calcula- 
tion I  can  make,  as  to  what  I  have  done  in  Vineland,  and  what 
Vineland  has  done  to  me,  is  simjjly  this  :  I  know  full  well,  from 
comparison  and  the  offers  which  have  at  times  been  made  to 
me,  that  my  land  and  buildings  in  their  present  state,  show  a 
market  value  of  at  least  Ten  Thousand  Dollars  ($  10,000),  and 
that  my  macliines,  teams  and  farming  implements  are  worth  at 
least  Two  Thousand  Dollars  (S  2,000),  making  up  the  total  of 
Twelve  Thousand  Dollars  ($  12,000),  which  I  call  my  Vineland 
Industrial  Luck.  In  fact,  we  would  not  by  any  means  sell  out 
at  a  much  higher  figure. 

I  have  never  found  any  place  like  Vineland  for  an  industrial 
man  to  get  along  in.  Besides,  it  has  proven  itself,  to  my  expe- 
rience and  knowledge,  to  be  a  very  healthy  place,  particularly 
in  my  lung  diseases.  I  am  myself,  for  aU  my  hard  work,  in  a 
much  better  condition  than  I  had  been  for  long  years  before 
moving  here.  1  need  not  praise  our  pure,  sweet,  soft  water. 
The  working  season,  as  compared  with  that  of  Maine,  is  just 
this :  you  can  work  out  from  INIay  to  October,  or  November,  at 
farthest,  in  that  "upper  region"  ;  here  you  can,  on  a  fair  aver- 
age, improve  your  land  from  February  to  Christmas,  and  some- 
thnes  even  to  New- Year's  Day. 

My  son  and  daughters  have  helped  me  considerably  in  work  ; 
but  they  were  all  well  paid.  In  fact,  except  a  little  during  my 
first  summer  here,  I  have  had  no  work  whatever  done  for  me 
which  has  not  been  strictly  paid  for. 

My  family  has  not  had  one  single  fit  of  homesickness  since 
we  arrived.  They  are  so  highly  satisfied  with  Vineland  that 
none  of  them  would  leave  on  any  account.  Besides,  all  my  chil- 
dren have  been  well  married  jn  Vineland. 

Tliere  are  no  two  ways  about  it.  A  man  that  has  a  mind  to 
work,  and  has  some  ambition  in  him,  will  surely  get  rich,  even  if 
partially  crippled,  and  quite  as  poor  as  I  was  when  commencing 


HOW   THEY   LIVE   IN   VINELAND.  151 

operations  here.  But  if  a  man  will  put  his  little  all  in  a  house 
to  begin  with,  and  mil  not  keep  up  his  industry  and  ambition,  why, 
then  he  deserves  not  to  get  rich  anywhere,  and  he  has  only  him- 
self to  blame. 

Respectfully  yours, 

CHAS.  B.   WASHBURNE. 

I  have  said  that  I  know  of  nothing  exceptional  in 
this  case.  I  do  not,  however,  fail  to  remark,  that  the 
name  of  the  writer  is  that  of  a  family,  many  of  the 
members  of  whom,  when  they  have  emigrated  from 
]\Iaine,  have  done  so  to  some  purpose,  for  themselves 
and  for  their  country. 


Here  is  a  most  condensed  statement,  from  which 
I  have  attempted  carefully  to  prune  the  enthusiastic 
declarations  which  old  Vineland  settlers  always  make, 
of  how  much  they  like  the  place.  It  is  the  history  of 
a  town,  which  has  been  made  out  of  nothing  in  eight 
years,  without  remarkable  physical  advantages.  This 
town  now  contains  twelve  thousand  people,  living  in 
great  comfort,  none  of  whom  had  large  means  when 
they  went  thei-e.  It  is  a  town  which  evidently  is 
established,  and  has  remarkable  prospects  in  the 
future.  To  speak  of  a  single  point  only,  which  set- 
tlers will  appreciate,  —  here  are  two  hundred  miles  of 
well-built  roads,  in  this  little  tract  of  say  forty  thousand 
acres. 

It  seems  to  owe  its  growth  and  beauty  and  pros- 


152  SYBARIS   AND   OTHER   HOMES. 

perlty  to  a  few  general  principles  which  might  be 
carried  out  anywhere.  In  the  statement  of  a  Com- 
mittee at  the  Paris  Exposition  of  1867,  which  gave 
Mr.  Landis  a  medal  as  the  founder  of  Vineland,  these 
principles  were  stated  as  four. 

I.  That  the  land  should  be  laid  out  with  reference 
to  practical  convenience. 

II.  That  it  should  be  laid  out  with  reference  to 
beauty. 

III.  That  societies  for  mutual  improvement  and 
entertainment  must  be  formed,  and  temperance  en- 
forced, in  order  to  promote  the  physical  prosperity 
and  mental  improvement  and  happiness  of  the  people. 
For  this,  also,  small  farming  and  compact  population 
are  considered  necessary. 

IV.  The  lands  and  town  lots  are  sold  to  actual  col- 
onists only. 

From  these  principles  spring  the  details  thus  de- 
scribed in  the  same  paper  by  Mr.  Landis :  — 

MATERIAL  ELEMENTS. 

1.  The  general  plan  of  laying  out  the  land,  by  which  peculiar 
facilities  were  afforded  to  industrious  people  to  obtain  land  for 
homesteads.  To  accomplish  this  it  was  laid  out  in  five,  ten, 
and  twenty  acre  lots  and  upwards,  at  a  small  price,  payable  in 
one,  two,  three,  and  four  years. 

2.  The  requirements  that  the  houses  in  the  town  plot  be  set 
back  from  the  roadside  at  least  twenty  feet,  and  on  the  farm  lots 
at  least  seventy-five  feet,  in  order  to  afford  room  for  flowers  and 
shrubbery. 

3.  Requiring  all  colonists  to  plant  shade-trees  upon  the  road- 
side, and  to  grass  the  roadsides. 


HOW   THEY   LIVE  IN   VINELAOT).  153 

4.  Requiring  colonists  to  buUd  and  settle  upon  their  lands 
within  one  year,  and  selling  no  land  to  other  than  actual  colo- 
nists. 

5.  Tlie  introduction  of  fruit-growing  and  the  general  im- 
provement of  agriculture  and  horticulture. 

6.  The  introduction  of  American  manufactures. 

7.  Tlie  making  of  roads  and  other  improvements  at  my  indi- 
vidual expense. 

MORAL  ELEMENTS. 

1.  The  introduction  of  good  and  convenient  schools. 

2.  The  formation  of  agricultural  and  horticultiu-al  societies. 

3.  The  formation  of  church  societies,  for  the  encouragement 
of  morality  and  religion. 

4.  The  formation  of  literary  societies  and  libraries. 

5.  The  introduction  of  a  new  temperance  reform,  which,  in 
its  practical  operation,  appears  to  do  away  with  all  the  evils  of 
intemperance. 

To  this  statement,  which  includes  the  secret  of  the 
prosperity  of  this  place,  I  add  the  following  words 
from  Mr.  Landis  himself. 

"  The  reason  why  many  settlements  fail  is  because 
the  projectors  expect  to  make  an  easy  speculation  of 
them  without  much  labor  and  time,  and  because  they 
have  no  definite  system  which  will  insure  the  increase 
of  the  value  of  lands  upon  the  hands  of  the  pur- 
chasers, as  well  as  the  general  prosperity  of  the 
settlers. 

"  No  prosperous  settlement  can  be  made  without 
tlie  pei'sonal  application  by  the  proprietor  of  much 
care  and  labor  over  a  period  of  many  years.     He  must 

7* 


154  SYBARIS   AND   OTHER   HOMES. 

expect  to  make  tlie  enterprise  an  exclusive  and  legiti- 
mate business." 

I  believe  the  last  statement  to  embody  a  most 
essential  suggestion. 

Vineland,  in  short,  is  a  wilderness  settlement  in  the 
heart  of  civilization.  You  have  not  to  carry  your 
family,  your  furniture,  and  your  stores  a  week's  jour- 
ney towards  the  West.  You  have  not  to  wait  a  week 
for  your  letters  from  the  home  you  have  left  behind. 
I  have  never  forgotten  the  moment  when  I  first 
stepped  on  the  platform  of  the  station  there.  I  was 
in  a  new  settlement,  four  years  only  from  the  wilder- 
ness. The  people  were  that  day  grubbing  up  the 
brush  where  a  new"  church  was  to  stand,  in  a  spot 
which  but  just  before  had  been  forest.  From  the  car 
there  landed  with  me  two  families  of  the  settlers.  A 
woman  with  one  carried  a  canary-bird.  A  man  of  the 
other  waited  at  the  baggage-car  for  a  mould  of  Phila- 
delphia ice-cream.  Tliey  were  new  settlers,  —  acting 
like  new  settlers.  But,  if  they  chose,  they  had  cana- 
ry-birds and  ice-cream  as  well.  The  incident  sug- 
gested to  me  the  contrast  between  Vineland  and  a 
log-cabin  in  township  No.  9,  in  the  seventh  range. 


HOW    THEY    LIVE    IN    BOSTON,    AND 
HOW    THEY    DIE    THEKE. 

"  There  is  not  one  word  in  the  paper,"  said  Laura, 
as  she  threw  it  over  to  her  husband,  both  of  them  sit- 
ting on  the  piazza,  above  the  sea  at  Manchester.  "  I 
do  not  see  why  they  choose  to  print  so  much  trash 
from  day  to  day."  So  she  took  up  Littell's  Living 
Age,  and  began  reading  some  of  Crabb  Robinson's 
hon-mots. 

For  fifteen  minutes  there  was  silence. 

Bernard  laid  down  the  paper  in  his  turn.  "  I  hardly 
see  wliy  you  say  there  is  nothing  in  the  paper,"  said 
he,  looking  a  little  pale  and  worried.  "  It  is  true 
there  is  no  battle,  and  there  has  been  no  accident  on 
the  Erie  Railroad  for  three  da^'s  ;  but  this  account  of 
the  death  of  these  poor  little  children,  whose  fathers 
and  mothers  loved  them  as  much  as  you  and  I  love 
Ben,  is  to  me  as  terrible  as  a  battle,  and  cuts  as  noiir 
home  as  a  railroad  smash." 

"  Children,  —  my  dear  child,"  said  Laura,  pale  in 
her  turn  now.  "  I  saw  nothing  about  children.  What 
is  it  ?     Whose  children  were  they  ?  " 

Bernard  read :  — 


156  SYBARIS   AND   OTHER  HOMES. 

"  From  Our  Own  Correspondent. 
"  The  mortality  of  the  infants  in  Betlilehem,  whicli  has  made 
every  Christian  mother  curse  the  name  of  Herod,  is  more  than 
equalled  in  the  terrible  suffering  which  I  do  not  venture  to  de- 
scribe. The  ayuntamiento  appears  powerless  in  the  havoc  ;  the 
physicians  give  me  no  encouragement  that  the  plague  is  stayed. 
With  my  companions,  I  have  in  the  last  week  attended  at  the 
funeral  rites  of  seventy-five  of  these  little  innocents ;  and  unless 
we  receive  some  relief,  which  we  do  not  anticipate,  I  shall  be 
obliged  often  to  send  to  you  the  same  melancholy  information." 

"  Melancholy  information  !  "  said  Laura,  bitterly. 
"  Is  the  man  a  stone?  —  is  the  agony  of  a  baby  and  is 
the  wretchedness  of  the  mother  only  a  paragraph  in 
his  string  of  news  ?  Where  is  this,  —  in  Mexico  or  in 
Spain  ?  Why  did  not  I  see  it  ?  Give  me  the  paper !  " 
And  she  took  it. 

"  Why,  Bernard,"  she  said,  after  a  moment,  re- 
proachfully, "you  are  not  making  fun  of  me  !  You 
could  not  make  that  up  to  quiz  me  !  " 

"  No,  darling,"  said  Bernard,  sadly,  looking  over 
her  shoulder ;  "  I  only  added  the  words  for  the  want 
of  which  it  missed  your  eye.  There  is  the  story, 
enough  sadder  than  I  made  it,  and  the  story  will  be 
there  next  week,  and  next  week,  if  you  take  pains  to 
Ic^k  for  it.  Only  now  you  know  where  to  look,  and 
you  did  not  know  before.  The  trimming  which  ladies 
wear  pn  their  summer  dresses  in  Wiesbaden  is  so  im- 
portant that  these  people  can  give  a  quarter-column 
to  describe  that ;  but  the  death  of  seventy-five  infants 
in  their  own  town  is  only  worth  half  a  line  of  min- 


HOW   TUEY    LIVE   IN   BOSTON.  157 

ion.     I   will  make  it  a  little  clearer  for  yoa.     And' 
then  with  his  pencil  he  drew  a  line  around  the  words, 
CHOLERA  INFANTUM,  75,  in  the  table  which 
I  copy  below  :  — 

City  Mortality.  —  The  deaths  in  Boston  during  the  week 
ending  at  noon  to-day  numbered  196, —  102  males,  94  females. 
Americans,  149  ;  Irish,  36  ;  English,  3  ;  Scotch,  1 ;  Provinces, 
4  ;  Germans,  2.  Consumption  had  20  victims ;  cholera  infan- 
tum, 75;  dysentery  and  marasmus,  11  each;  brain  diseases,  9; 
cancer,  5  ;  diarrhoea  and  lung  disease,  4  each ;  accident,  apo- 
plexy, convulsions,  intemperance,  peritonitis,  and  rheumatism,  3 
each  ;  diphtheria,  debility,  infantile  and  puerperal  diseases,  ty- 
phoid and  scarlet  fever,  old  age,  premature  birth,  2  each ;  anae- 
mia, inflammation  of  bowels,  croup,  dropsy,  fistula,  exposure, 
heart  disease,  measles,  necrosis,  paralysis,  scald,  and  syphilis,  1 
each.  American  parentage,  73  ;  foreign  parentage,  123.  —  July 
31,  1869. 

"  That  means,  dearest,  that  there  were  seventy-five 
households  fighting  death  over  the  cradles  of  their 
babies  last  week,  and  that  seventy-five  fathers  and 
seventy-five  mothers  were  defeated,  and  that  life  is 
hardly  worth  living  to  them  now,  because  their  little 
ones  are  not.  If  it  were  half  round  the  world,  and 
if  it  were  an  ayuntamiento  that  was  puzzled,  it  would 
make  a  paragraph ;  but  seeing  it  is  only  in  Suffolk 
Street  and  B  Street,  it  is  not  of  so  much  conse- 
quence." 

"  O,"  said  Laura,  through  her  tears,  "  do  not  be 
bitter  about  it,  —  these  people,  as  you  call  them,  are 
no  more  careless  or  negligent  about  them  than  I  am. 


158  SYBAEIS  AND   OTHER  HOMES. 

We  are  so  happy  here  and  the  children  are  so  well,'^  — 
and  she  looked  anxiously  at  big,  bouncing  Ben  in  his 
wagon, — "that  we  forget  there  are  other  peopb  in 
the  world.  Who  are  these  children?  I  read  the 
deaths  in  the  papers  every  day,  and  there  have  not 
been  many  names  of  children,  —  nobody's  name  that 
I  knew. 

"  No,  dear,"  said  Bernard  again,  "  you  did  not 
know  them,  and  I  did  not,  and  they  are  not  the  kind 
of  people  who  send  their  deaths  or  their  marriages  to 
the  newspaper.  They  are  the  children  of  the  people, 
who  stand  up  to  their  knees  in  water,  that  the  stones 
may  be  laid  firm  that  support  the  causeway  on  which 
is  laid  the  gravel  that  your  and  my  carriage  rolls 
smoothly  over.  They  are  the  people  who,  with  naked 
skins  in  a  temperature  of  a  hundred  and  ten  degrees, 
wheel  the  coal  to  the  retorts  that  there  may  be  gas 
enough  at  Selwyn's  to-night,  if  you  and  I  fancy  we 
should  like  to  go  and  see  Laura  Keene  in  Midsummer. 
I  do  not  know,"  he  added  after  a  pause,  "•  how  I  should 
have  this  cigar  in  my  mouth  at  this  moment  if  there 
were  not  a  good  many  of  such  people  somewhere.  But, 
for  all  that,  their  names  do  not  get  put  into  the  news- 
papers when  they  die,  unless,  by  bad  luck,  somebody 
kills  them." 

"  Do  you  mean  to  tell  me,"  said  Laura,  rousing  her- 
self with  something  almost  of  agony  in  her  manner, 
"  that  it  is  sickly  in  Boston,  and  that  I  have  not 
known  it  all  this  time  ?     That  Emily  is  there  with  all 


HOW   THEY  LIVE   IN   BOSTON.  159 

her  cliildren,  in  the  midst  of  an  epidemic,  and  that  I 
have  not  known  a  word  about  it  ?  That  was  not 
kind  !  " 

"  No,  dearest,"  said  Bernard  again,  more  sadly  than 
before,  —  "  no,  dearest.  Emily's  children  are  as  safe 
as  yours,  probably  safer,  so  far  as  human  wisdom  goes. 
There  is  no  epidemic  in  Chestnut  Street,  or  Mount 
Vernon  Street,  or  Beacon  Street,  or  in  Worcester 
Street,  or  Chester  Square,  or  on  Telegraph  Hill,  or 
on  the  Highlands.  There  is  no  epidemic  anywhere. 
Only  where  people  live  sixteen  families  in  one  house, 
with  their  swill-barrels  in  their  entries  and  their  water 
draining  on  the  floors,  the  chances  for  life  are  not  as 
good  as  they  are  at  Emily's  house,  where  each  child 
has  a  bath  before  she  goes  to  bed  and  a  room  of  its 
own  to  sleep  in.  All  I  mean  is  that  these  people  live 
so  that  it  becomes  a  very  easy  matter  for  their  children 
to  die." 

Laura  sat  in  silence  a  few  minutes,  pushing  by 
Crabb  Robinson  and  the  paper  both.  Then  she  said 
to  Bernard,  "  Why  is  it,  Bernard,  that  I,  who  have 
lived  all  my  life  in  Boston,  know  nothing  about  these 
places  that  these  poor  children  live  and  die  in  ?  " 

"  Why  is  it,"  said  he,  "  that  I  know  nothing  about 
them,  —  that  I  take  all  I  tell  you  from  the  printed 
report  of  some  poor  fellow  who  is  trying  to  thorn 
up  me  and  the  other  governoi's  of  this  country  to 
do  something  about  it  ?  It  is  simply  the  old  story ; 
as  somebody  said  in  London,  'When  the  nice  people 


160  SYBAEIS  AND   OTHER  HOMES. 

of  Belgravia  and  the  rest  of  the  West  End  shall  be 
making  their  answers  at  the  day  of  judgment,  they 
will  have  some  reason  to  say,  "  When  satf  we  thee 
sick  or  in  prison,  and  did  not  minister  to  thee?"  — 
even  after  it  has  been  explained  to  them  that  seeing 
one  of  the  least  of  his  brethren  is  seeing  the  Lord. 
For  in  Belgravia  they  do  not  see  St.  Giles,  and  as  for 
visiting  the  prisoners,  they  would  find  it  hard  to  get  a 
permit ;  and  as  to  feeding  the  hungry,  they  are  afraid 
to  give  them  potatoes  lest  they  should  turn  them  into 
beer.'  " 

"  I  don't  care  for  that,"  said  Laura,  "  I  do  not  mean 
to  be  cynical  or  satirical  about  this  thing.  I  do  not 
live  in  Belgravia,  and  there  is  no  place  in  Boston  that 
I  dare  not  go  to,  if  you  go  with  me.  I  move  we  go 
and  see  some  of  the  people  to-morrow.  There  is  no 
danger  that  it  would  hurt  Ben,  is  there  ?  " 

"  Not  the  slightest,  child,"  said  Bernard ;  "  we  will 
go  as  soon  as  you  like.  Will  you  be  ready  at  the  10.28  ?  " 

"  Yes,  or  earlier.  I  will  be  ready  for  the  early 
train  at  8.40.  We  will  drive  up  to  Beverly  and  take 
it  there." 

So  was  it  that  Laura  and  Bernard  made  the  follow- 
ing observations. 

After  endless  charges  to  Katy  that  Ben  should  be 
kept  out-doors  till  he  took  his  nap ;  and  that  after  his 
nap  there  should  be  this  and  that  and  the  other,  they 
drove  to  Beverly  in  time  for  the  early  train.     It  was 


HOW   THEY   LIVE  IN  BOSTON.  IGl 

not  more  than  ten  minutes  late  in  Boston  ;  and  before 
ten  o'clock  they  were  on  their  way  to  the  City  Hall. 
Laura  felt  all  the  excitement  that  she  felt  when  she 
first  entered  Paris.  For,  because  she  had  lived  in 
Boston  all  hei*  life,  almost  of  course,  she  knew  nothing 
about  it.  In  Paris  she  had  been  taken  to  see  the 
Hotel  de  Ville,  and  there  was  a  good  deal  about  it  in 
her  journal ;  in  Florence  she  had,  of  course,  gone  to 
the  Uffizzi ;  in  London  she  had  been  taken  to  Guild 
Hall  to  see  Gog  and  Magog,  but  it  had  never  occurred 
to  any  one  who  managed  the  education  of  this  really 
Avell-trained  young  lady  to  take  her  either  to  the  State 
House  in  Boston,  to  see  the  machinery  of  the  govern- 
ment of  the  State,  nor  to  the  City  Hall,  to  see  how 
that  of  her  native  city  was  carried  on.  There  were 
pictures  at  the  Uffizzi,  and  only  some  photographs  at 
the  City  Hall. 

So  there  was  all  the  interest  of  novelty  to  Laura,  as 
lier  husband  led  her  up  the  palatial  stairway,  and 
brought  her  into  the  City  Registrar's  handsome  office. 
There  was  a  httle  of  the  fear  that  she  was  out  of  her 
place  ;  but  this  vanished  at  once  when  the  Registrar 
so  courteously  received  her  and  her  husband,  though 
they  were  both  strangers  to  him.  Bernard  introduced 
himself,  and  said,  almost  abruptly,  being  himself  per- 
haps a  little  nervous,  "  I  am  sorry  to  see  you  had  a 
bad  week  last  week."  The  Registrar  understood  him 
on  the  moment,  spoke  of  the  seventy-five  cholera-in- 
fantum  deaths,  and  gave  to  his  visitors  such  detail  as 

X 


162  SYBARIS  AND   OTHER  HOMES. 

showed  to  them  at  once  that  he  was  no  mere  man  of 
figures,  and  that  his  tables  had  to  him  the  terrible 
interest  which  Bernard  had  given  to  them  when  he 
read  to  Laura.  The  Registrar  stood  there  and  sounded 
the  trumpet  week  by  week,  and  that  with  no  uncertain 
sound.  If  those  children  died  when  there  was  no 
necessity,  his  at  least  was  not  the  i*esponsibility. 

He  had  at  once  invited  Laura  into  his  airy  and  ele- 
gant office,  and  had  given  her  a  chair.  In  a  moment 
more  he  brought  to  her  husband  the  large  folio,  in 
which  every  detail  reported  to  him  of  the  deaths  of  the 
last  week  was  written  down.  Bernard  having  gained 
his  permission  to  use  these  tables,  explained  to  Laura 
what  they  were  to  do. 

He  had  brought  with  him  a  little  memorandum-book, 
which  he  gave  to  her,  that  she  might  copy  upon  it  each 
of  the  names  of  the  seventy -five  little  children  who 
had  died  from  this  single  disease.  She  selected  these 
from  all  the  other  deaths.  She  did  not  enter  the  birth- 
places of  the  children,  nor  the  names  of  their  fathers 
and  mothers,  nor  the  other  facts  which  she  found  in 
the  Registry.  Her  little  table,  which  I  will  only  copy 
in  part,  assumed  this  aspect :  — 

Boston.     Cholera  Infantum,    July  24 -July  31,  1869. 
No.  1.  Mary  A.  Murphy,  1  y.  7  mos.,  22  Davenport  Street,  Ward  15 
"    2.  Sarah  Eaton,  2  mos.,  102  Portland  Street,  "       4 

"    3.  Edith  M.  Dillman,  5  mos  ,  19  Trask  Place,  "     13 

"    4.  Gertie  F.  Tucker,  6  mos.,  Eutaw  Street,  "       1 

"    5.  John  McLaughlin,  8  mos.,  61  Prince  Street,  "       3 

"■    6.  Mary  McCarty,  2  mos.,  224  Havre  Street,  "       1 

and  so  on. 


HOW   THEY   LIVE  IN   BOSTON.  163 

"While  she  was  copying,  Bernard,  on  a  little  map  of 
the  city  he  had  with  him,  was  making  red  crosses  Avith 
a  pencil,  midway  in  the  streets  where  the  deaths  oc- 
curred. He  had  finished  almost  as  soon  as  she  hud. 
Then  he  returned  the  Registry  to  the  office,  with  his 
thanks,  and  they  both  went  down  again  to  the  car- 
riage, leaving  for  some  future  day  an  investigation  of 
the  various  curiosities  of  the  City  Hall. 

"  Drive  to  Suffolk  Street,"  said  Bernard,  as  he 
entered  the  carriage ;  and  then  to  his  wife,  "  Well, 
darling,  it  begins  to  look  real  now.  How  much  more 
one  feels  it,  when  he  sees  the  names  of  the  little 
things  !  " 

"  Do  we  ever  feel  anything,  Bernard,  till  we  look  at 
it  piecemeal,  or  in  the  detail  ?  Did  you  notice,  —  no, 
the  figures  were  not  on  your  side  of  the  book,  but, 
Bernard,  almost  all  of  these  children  are  less  than  a  year 
old.  Now  we  always  thought  that  the  second  vear, 
while  they  were  teething,  was  the  dangerous  year  for 
children.  But  see  there,"  and  she  took  out  her  note- 
book, "  in  my  first  twenty-two  names  there  is  Will 
Sullivan,  three  years  old  ;  one  boy  of  one  year,  and 
one  girl  of  one  year  and  seven  months,  and  all  the 
others  are  less  than  a  year."  She  found  afterwards 
that  on  her  whole  register  there  were  but  eight  who 
had  passed  twelve  months. 

"  Now,"  said  Bernardj  "  look  at  my  little  map." 
And  he  showed  her  the  map.  "  The  worst  street," 
said  he,  "  is  Island  Street,  down  on  the  flats  in  Rox- 


164  SYBARIS   A^'D   OTHER  HOJIES. 

hury,  where  the  bad  smells  come  from.  If  you  had 
ever  been  there  you  would  wonder  that  any  of  them 
were  left  alive.  But  of  old  Boston,  which  is  all  we 
can  do  to-day,  here  are  the  places." 

"  Queer,"  said  Laura  ;  "  they  are  in  two  rows,  with 
a  white  belt,  half  a  mile  wide  between." 

"  Yes  ;  but  that  belt,  you  see,  is  the  business  part 
of  the  town,  where  nobody  lives,  and  Fort  Hill,  which 
they  are  digging  down,  and  it  is  the  Common  and 
Beacon  Hill.  Here  at  the  North  End  is  Copp's  Hill ; 
you  see  nobody  has  died  there.  On  the  original  three 
mountains  of  Boston,  on  its  high  lands,  not  one  of  our 
seventy-five  babies  lived  or  died.'* 

Laura  studied  the  list  then  Avith  some  care.  There 
was  not  one  child  on  her  list  from  Beacon  Street, 
Chestnut  Street,  or  Pinckney  Street.  And  it  was  not 
merely  hillsides  that  were  exempt.  There  were  no 
deaths  in  Union  Park,  Worcester  Street,  Springfield 
Street,  Chester  Square ;  not  one  death  in  any  of  the 
very  nice  streets  where  most  of  her  friends  lived  and 
she  visited  most.  And  the  largest  parts,  as  she  had 
said,  were  in  two  clumps  together. 

"  What  are  these  clumps?  "  said  she. 

"  This  on  the  north  is  what  used  to  be  called  the 
Millpond.  It  was  filled  up  half  a  century  ago.  Of 
the  thirty-seven  children  whose  homes  I  could  find, 
seven  lived  there. 

"  This  on  the  south  is  the  Church  Street  district, 
joined  to  the  region  north  of  Dover  Street.     They 


HOW   THEY   LIVE  IN   BOSTON.  165 

are  trying  now  to  raise  the  Church  Street  district.  In 
this  chimp  there  are  fifteen  children. 

"  This  death  in  Ehot  Street  must  have  been  on  up- 
land ;  these  in  Russell  Place  and  Phillips  Place,  and 
these  in  Prince  Street,  Cooper  Street,  Holden  Court, 
Langdon  Place,  and  Samoset  Place,  at  the  North  End. 
But  of  all  the  other  thirty,  I  think  the  homes  were 
where  God  Almighty  made  the  water  flow.  But  it 
is  not  that  so  much.  It  is  that  the  poor  wretches  have 
no  air.  What  was  it  Sargent  used  to  tell  us,  that  the 
science  of  health  was  the  science  of  getting  people  into 
pure  air.  You  shall  see  as  soon  as  we  set  foot  on  the 
ground  what  chance  there  is  for  breathing,  night  or 
day.  They  have  fared  well  enough  in  Rutland  Street, 
Waltham  Street,  Tremont  Street,  on  Commonwealth 
Avenue,  Newbury  Street,  and  Marlborough  Street, 
though  these  streets  are  all  on  made  land.  These  are 
well-drained  and  well-aired  streets.  Air  is  what  you 
want.     Now  look  here." 

The  carriage  stopped  at  the  corner  of  Dover  and 
Suffolk  Streets,  and  the  coachman  asked,  "  What 
number  ?  "  But  Bernard  dismissed  him,  telling  Laura 
tliat  for  what  was  left  they  had  better  go  on  foot.  So 
they  came  to  a  wooden  house,  with  rooms  each  side 
of  the  door,  two  stories  high  with  attics  ;  not  so  large, 
as  he  bade  her  observe,  as  the  house  they  had  left  in 
Manchester. 

"  How  in  the  world  are  you  going  to  get  in  ?  "  said 
Laura,  timidly. 


166  SYBARIS  AND   OTHER  HOMES. 

"  O,  I  shall  walk  in,"  said  Bernard,  and  lie  did, 
the  door  being  wide  open.  He  tapped  at  the  first 
door,  and  immediately  a  stout  Irishwoman  appeared, 
to  whom  Bernard  addressed  himself.  The  moment 
there  was  anj  evidence  of  conversation,  she  was  joined 
by  another  and  another. 

Bernard  whipped  but  a  little  note-book  and  pencil. 

"  Can  you  tell  me,  ma'am,  how  many  families  there 
are  on  this  floor  ?  " 

"  There  's  four,  sir,  live  in  here,  and  this  woman 
lives  in  the  room  opposite." 

"  And  how  many  children  are  there  ?  " 

"  I  've  got  one  girl,  and  Mrs.  McDaniel  here,  she 
has  two  boys,  and  Mrs.  McEna  she  has  one  girl  and 
two  boys,  and  Mrs.  Liener  here,  she  has  one  boy," 
and  Mrs.  Liener  blushed  and  was  pleased  and  confirmed 
the  statement.  Bernard  asked  if  they  had  all  been 
"vaccinated,  and  was  assured  they  had,  with  the  addi- 
tional assurance  that  the  McDaniel  boys  were  men 
grown.  Meanwhile  Laura  availed  herself  of  the  free- 
dom of  a  free  country  to  look  into  the  rooms  right 
and  left  of  her  which  the  interlocutors  had  left  open 
that  they  might  enjoy  the  colloquy. 

Up  stairs  then  proceeded  Bernard,  Laura  following. 
The  first  door"  gave  no  answer  to  his  tap,  the  second 
was  wide  open,  and  Laura  saw  a  woman  lying  on  the 
bed,  not  asleep,  however.  Laura  took  the  census 
here,  —  there  was  this  woman,  who  had  two  boys, 
Mrs.  O'Brien,  who  had  one  girl,  and  Jerry  Regan, 


HOW   THEY   LIVE  IN   BOSTON.  167 

who  had  no  children,  who  occupied  the  four  rooms  on 
this  floor.  Up  stairs  in  the  attics  were  only  the  Mc- 
Donalds (other  McDonalds  from  the  first  floor),  and 
the  Farnums,  each  with  one  boy.  Here  were  nine 
families,  but  none  of  them  were  named  K*****. 

So  Bernard  asked  the  second  Mrs.  McDonald  if 
there  were  not  a  little  child  named  K*****  who  died 
here  last  week. 

"  O,  that,  sir,  was  in  the  basement,"  said  Mrs. 
McDonald.  And  it  proved  that  they  had  let  the 
basement  go  by,  not  suspecting  that  there  was  any. 

Thus  far  the  twelve  rooms,  of  which  they  had  in- 
spected eight,  were  almost  exactly  alike,  but  that  four 
were  attics.  Rooms  nearly  square  and  about  ten  feet 
by  twelve.  Some  of  them  had  two  bedsteads  in, 
always  with  high  cumbrous  head  and  foot  boards, 
while  in  one,  as  Laura  observed,  which  had  a  cooking- 
stove,  there  was  no  bedstead.  Some  of  them  wei^ 
tolerably  neat,  —  one,  in  which  the  woman  was  lying 
down,  hopelessly  dirty.  Of  the  children  spoken  of, 
they  had  only  seen  one.  He  was  the  junior  McDon- 
ald, in  the  attic,  who,  under  the  auspices  of  Mrs.  Mc- 
Donald and  Mrs.  Farnum,  was  walking  his  first  steps, 
and  crowed  and  laughed  at  the  visitors  very  prettily. 
All  the  other  children  had  sought  wider  quarters. 
From  this  inspection  they  went  down  the  narrow 
stairways,  into  what  was  called  the  basement.  It  was 
almost  wholly  below  the  street,  and  in  no  way  dif- 
fered from  what  is  usually  called  a  cellar.     Here  they 


168  SYBAEIS   AND   OTHER  HOMES. 

found  Mr.  Kellarin  and  Mrs.  West,  but  still  no  Mrs. 
K*****.  The  floor  of  the  entry  was  wet  from  the 
overrunning  of  the  water-faucet  which  supplied  the 
house,  and  all  the  region  was  damp,  as  a  cellar  is  apt 
to  be  which  is  much  below  the  tide  level.  Bernard 
asked  Mr.  Kellarin,  who  seemed  to  be  rather  cross, 
if  Mrs.  K*****  did  not  live  here.  "  No,  —  no  such 
woman  here  !  " 

"  But  did  not  a  little  child  die  here  last  week  ?  " 

"  O  yes,  —  that  was  in  the  back  room  ;  no  one  is 
there  now.     She  has  moved  next  door." 

"  Thank  God  for  that,"  said  Laura  to  her  husband, 
as  they  crossed  the  wretched  alley.  "  Nothing  can 
be  worse  than  where  she  was." 

True  enough.  That  floor  was  wet  from  the  slop  of 
the  water.  The  air  was  wet,  because  the  sun  never 
kissed  it.  The  rooms  were  so  chilly  and  so  dark  ! 
And  the  smell ! 

Across  the  alley  was  a  little  brown  house  about  as 
bicf  as  the  coachman's  house  at  Manchester.  It  was 
every  way  nicer  than  that  they  had  left,  though  so 
small.  Here  poor  Mrs.  K*****  came  to  meet  them 
at  the  first  door.  Laura  felt  that  it  was  she,  she 
looked  so  sad  and  so  sick.  Just  a  black  rao;  of  some 
kind  she  had  put  around  her,  and  when  Laura  spoke 
to  her  kindly  and  asked  about  her  little  boy,  and  the 
poor  woman  told  her  it  was  her  only  child,  and  that 
he  was  sick  such  a  little  while,  the  two  women  were 
sisters.      The   four   families   in   this   house   were   all 


HOW   THEY   LIVE  IN   BOSTON.  169 

young.  K*****,  Leonard,  Driscoll,  Agin,  with  their 
wives,  —  they  all  had  but  two  boys  and  one  girl,  — 
only  seven  people  to  live  in  four  rooms,  which  if  you 
liad  put  them  together  would  have  made  one  of 
twenty  feet  square. 

In  the  house  opposite,  which  they  had  visited  first, 
were  thirty-one  persons  in  fourteen  so-called  rooms. 
What  had  been  the  yard  of  this  house  had  been  taken 
up  by  another  tenement  building. 

I  must  not  attempt  to  tell  in  such  detail  of  each  of 
the  visits  which  Laura  made  this  busy  morning.  Ber- 
nard told  her,  as  they  drove  back  to  the  train  at  ten 
o'clock,  that  she  had  knocked  off  more  calls  in  her 
three  hours  than  he  ever  did  in  his  most  successful 
work  of  his  most  successful  New- Year's  Day  of  his* 
bachelor  life  in  New  York.  "  You  have  added  to 
your  visiting  list,"  said  he,  "  as  nearly  as  I  can  make 
it  up  at  this  moment,  thirteen  Mrs.  Flahertys  and^ 
twelve  gentlemen  of  that  name,  —  eleven  Mrs.  Sulli- 
vans,  —  six  Mrs.  Feenans,  and  their  husbands,  — 
three  Mrs.  McLanes  and  two  Mrs.  McTanes,  —  be- 
sides miscellaneous  names  not  to  be  mentioned." 

"  Well,"  replied  Laura,  stoutly,  "  I  wish  all  my 
other  friends  were  as  cordial  to  me  as  these  good  wo- 
men have  been,  —  I  wish  they  would  be  half  as  well 
employed  when  I  called  on  them,  —  and  I  wish,  on  the 
whole,  that  they  made  as  much  of  their  advantages 
as  these  people  do  of  what  we  cannot  call  their  ad- 
vantages." 


170  SrBARIS   AND   OTHER  HOMES. 

It  is  certainly  true,  that  in  many  instances  the  in- 
stinctive vigor  of  a  woman,  and  that  Divine  Principle 
which  has  given  to  a  wife  the  establishment  and  the 
comfort  of  a  home,  —  which  among  this  class  of  per- 
sons is  a  principle  still  respected  and  accepted,  — 
sustain  the  women  who  are  forced  to  live  in  these 
crowded  cells  with  their  husbands  and  children,  so 
that  they  often  retain  decency,  order,  and  even  neat- 
ness, where  one  would  say  it  is  impossible.  Sweet- 
ness of  air,  freshness,  or  cheerfulness,  it  is,  of  course, 
wholly  beyond  their  power  to  give. 

Laura  and  Bernard  had  been  snubbed  scarcely  any- 
where. Once,  when  Laura  was  the  spokeswoman, 
and  asked,  timidly,  "  Does  not  Mrs.  Weiss  live  here  ?" 
she  got  a  very  sharp  "  No."  When  poor  Laura  varied 
her  question,  the  answer  was,  "No,  she  died  here  "; 
and  Laura,  who  had  only  taken  note  of  children's 
death  on  her  memorandum-book,  found  that  mother 
and  child  had  died  together.  The  landlady,  to  whom 
she  was  talking,  knew  nothing  of  her  tenants,  —  or 
pretended  to  know  nothing,  —  and  made  haste  to 
usher  her  guests  out  of  the  wretched  grocer-shop, 
where,  if  they  had  asked  for  bad  whiskey,  they  would 
have  had  good  chance  for  more  cordial  welcome. 

They  called  at  one  house  which  always  reminds  me, 
as  I  go  to  my  train,  of  the  front  of  a  menagerie  cage, 
where  the  little  monkeys  may  be  seen  among  a  few  of 
larger  growth,  performing  behind.  It  is  four  stories 
high,  and  has  no  entry  or  hall  in  it,  every  room  open- 


HOW    THEY   LIVE   EN   BOSTON.  171 

ing  by  its  one  door  on  the  four  front  piazzas  which 
rise  above  each  other.  Each  room  has,  in  the  rear, 
two  closets  only  lighted  from  the  doors,  one  of  which 
may  be  eight  feet  square ;  the  other  is  narrower.  The 
front  room,  which  opens  on  the  piazza,  is  fifteen  by 
thirteen  perhaps.  This  is  a  suite  for  a  family.  And 
any  day  you  pass  you  may  see  the  children  of  forty 
such  families  disportmg  themselves  on  the  piazzas. 
The  reason  why  there  are  no  windows  in  the  back 
wall  is  that  there  is  another  similar  building,  which 
lias  been  squeezed  in  there  in  a  space  so  narrow  that  it 
is  not  nine  feet  from  the  windows  and  doors  to  the 
wall  opposite,  —  and,  of  that  nine  feet,  four  or  five 
must  be  given  to  the  piazza.  Stop  on  your  way  down 
Lincoln  Street,  Mr.  Alderman,  and  look  at  that  build- 
ing ;  do  not  be  satisfied  with  the  Lincoln  Street 
front,  but  try  the  other  front,  and  guess  what  are  the 
chances  for  life  there.  As  the  buildino;  is  arranged,  it 
will  "accommodate,"  I  believe,  sixty  families,  —  near- 
ly as  many  human  beings  as  would  be  permitted  by 
the  United  States  statute  on  an  emigrant  vessel  of  the 
same  size.  Yet  on  the  emigrant  vessel  there  are 
windsails  to  pump  out  the  air,  —  there  is  the  certainty 
of  fresh  air  on  deck,  and  the  best  of  it.  And  there, 
at  the  worst,  the  imprisonment  is  but  for  a  few  weeks. 
But,  in  this  anchored  hell,  the  child  who  is  born  must 
live  five  years  before  he  has  wit  enough  and  strength 
enough  to  run  away. 

Here  are  Bernard's  notes  on  the  houses  where  he 


172  SYBARIS  AND   OTHER  HOMES. 

and  his  wife  first  called.     I  have  only  desg-ibed  the 
first  tenement  of  the  first  two. 

13  Emerald  Street.  Two  tenement-houses  adjoining  each 
other.  There  are  thirteen  families  in  one  and  ten  in  the  other. 
The  water-pipes  are  put  up  in  the  most  shameful  manner.  They 
must  of  necessity  freeze  up  at  the  very  first  frost.  Only  one 
faucet  for  each  tertement-house,  —  i.  e.  twenty-three  families 
have  two  faucets  to  draw  from.  There  is  no  way  of  getting  to 
the  faucet  without  wading  in  dirty  water,  the  drains  being  all 
out  of  order.  Two  of  the  most  filthy  privies  entirely  open  for 
these  twenty-three  families,  —  so  mv^ch  out  of  repair  as  to  be 
dangerous  to  enter.  The  boards  are  broken  away,  so  that  you 
can  see  into  the  vaults.  The  only  reason  why  the  people  in  the 
houses  are  not  all  dead  is  because  they  keep  their  own  places 
much  cleaner  than  anybody  could  naturally  expect.  Miserable 
places,  out  of  repair,  the  plastering  off  the  walls  and  ceilings,  — 
no  chance  to  whitewash,  for  there  is  no  place  to  whitewash  in 
many  of  the  rooms. 

Texement-House  73  Middlesex  Street.  Sixteen  fami- 
lies Uve  in  this  house.  The  staircase  is  so  narrow  and  dark  that  it 
is  a  wonder  how  the  children,  with  whom  it  abounds,  are  not 
daily  injiu-ed.  In  the  event  of  a  fire  it  might  be  that  not  one  of 
the  families  up  stairs  could  be  saved.  There  is  very  fair  ac- 
commodation here  for  water.  No  water-closets,  however,  and 
but  one  privy  in  fom*  compartments  for  the  whole  sixteen  fami- 
lies. The  passages  below  are  in  a  filthy  condition,  owing  to 
unsuitable  arrangements  for  the  refuse. 

Their  whole  inspection  was  on  the  southern  side  of 
the  white  stripe  across  Bernard's  map.  And  they  had 
not  time  that  day  to  go  to  Island  Street.  Once  or 
twice  they  came  upon  nice,  cheerful  houses,  where 
Laura  said  the  people  had  good  friends,  she  was  sure, 


HOW   THEY   LIVE   D^   BOSTON.  173 

and  she  would  not  offer  her  sympathy.  But  there 
were  many  of  these  poor  Irishwomen  who  were  glad 
of  her  visit,  and  with  whom  she  Avill  keep  up  her 
visiting  acquaintance  long. 

"  I  know,"  said  Laura,  as  they  rode  home,  "  that  you 
hate  to  be  constantly  making  laws,  and  controlling  peo- 
ple by  laws,  and  I  know  how  your  father  says  that  the 
best  government  is  that  which  governs  least ;  but  I 
should  think  something  might  be  done  to  give  such 
people  as  these  a  better  chance." 

"  My  dear,"  said  Bernard,  "  our  system  in  Massa- 
chusetts about  laws  is  that  of  Ensign  Stebbins.  We 
take  great  pains  about  making  the  laws,  and  we  take 
equal  pains  to  let  them  alone  when  we  have  made 
them."  And  Bernard  took  from  his  pocket  a  little 
blue  pamphlet  which  contained  the  tenement  law  of 
1868. 

"  How  many  of  these  houses  had  a  fire-escape  ? 
Did  you  notice  ?  "  said  he. 

"  What  is  a  fire-escape  ?  "  replied  Laura.  "  Did 
any  of  them  have  one  ?  " 

"  Not  that  I  saw,"  said  Bernard.  "  But  here  is  the 
act :  '  Every  such  house  shall  have  a  fire-escape.' 
That  is  Section  3.  From  Section  4  I  learn  that  these 
water-closets  in  Emerald  and  Middlesex  Streets  must 
have  been  '  approved  by  the  Board  of  Health.'  From 
Section  6  that  that  basement  in  Emerald  Street  could 
not  have  been  occupied  '  without  a  permit  from  the 
Board  of  Health  ' ;  nor  at  all  unless  it  was  '  perfectly 


174  SYBAEIS   AND    OTHER   HOMES. 

drained.'  From  Section  8  I  learn  that  all  these  houses 
must  '  have  suitable  conveniences  for  garbage,'  and  so 
on,  and  so  on. 

"  How  many  times  have  you  noticed  the  owners' 
names  to-day  ?  " 

"  Not  once,"  stared  Laura. 

"  Nor  I.  But  listen  :  '  Every  tenement  or  lodging 
house  shall  have  legibly  posted  or  painted  on  the  wall 
or  door  in  the  entry  the  name  and  address  of  the 
owner,'  —  that  is  the  law,  dear  Poiria.  And  here  is 
the  law  about  whitewash  :  '  Every  house  thus  occu- 
pied shall  be  whitewashed  every  April  and  October.' 
My  dear,  the  law  might  have  been  made  for  Sybaris. 
But  the  only  time  I  ever  heard  of  a  prosecution 
under  it,  an  ex-mayor  defended  the  landlord,  knew 
how  to  rip  up  the  indictment,  and  that  was  the  end 
of  that.     O,  there  is  law  enough,  dear  child." 

"  Well,  what  can  we  do  ?  "  persisted  Laura. 

"  Do,  child  ?  We  can  make  public  opinion.  The 
first  time  Dr.  Shurtleff  asks  you  to  go  to  ride,  ask  him 
to  stop  and  call  with  you  on  some  friends  of  yours  in  the 
Crystal  Palace.     That  is  the  best  thing  you  can  do." 

But,  for  himself,  Bernard  sent  me  his  observations, 
and  I  determined  to  print  them. 


I  CONFESS  that  I  was  surprised,  when  I  first  looked 
over  this  list  of  seventy-five  deaths  by  cholera  infantum 
in  the  last  week  of  July,  to  see  that,  of  the  whole  num- 


HOW   THEY   LIVE  IN   BOSTON.  175 

ber,  twelve  were  in  the  three  wards  which  are  made 
of  the  territory  of  Roxbury.  It  seemed  curious,  at 
first  sight,  that  the  mortahty  in  a  so-called  country 
town,  just  now  annexed  to  the  compact  city,  should  be 
even  larger  in  proportion  to  the  population  than  that 
of  the  more  compact  section.  But  a  moment's  exam- 
ination of  the  localities  removed  my  surprise.  These 
eleven  deaths  were  all  of  them  in  houses  on  the  low, 
flat  land,  which  would  once  have  been  called  salt- 
marsh,  which  ought,  perhaps,  never  to  have  been  built 
upon  at  all,  without  such  elevation  of  the  streets  as 
should  give  proper  drainage  to  the  houses.  All  of 
them  but  two  or  three  proved,  on  inquiry,  to  be  in  ten- 
ement-houses of  the  most  crowded  character. 

My  first  visit  among  them  was  in  Island  Street ;  it 
is  not  yet  accepted  by  the  city,  which  takes  no  responsi- 
bility for  its  drainage  or  its  grading.  It  will  be  known 
by  residents  in  Boston  as  the  street  which  leads  to  the 
so-called  "  Island,"  where  were  the  odious  bone-burning 
establishments.  Here  twin  children  had  died  in  a  hut, 
standing  by  itself,  worth  its  annual  rental  perhaps,  which 
I  think  would  be  considered  in  any  comfortable  country 
town  in  New  England  unfit  for  the  residence  of  men, 
but  which  here  was  regarded  by  its  occupants  as  par- 
ticularly desirable  because  they  were  alone.  Two  of 
the  other  deaths  were  in  Adams  Street  and  Chadwick 
Street,  which,  though  they  run  down  upon  the  flats, 
are  occupied  by  a  class  of  tenements  much  superior  to 
the    others.     I   visited    every    tenement   in    Phojnix 


176  SYBARIS  AND   OTHER   HOMES. 

Place,  wliich  is  a  fair  enough  illustration,  in  its  melan- 
choly uniformity,  of  the  whole  class.  It  is  a  narrow- 
court  of  eight  houses,  —  four  on  each  side.  They  are 
lightly  built  of  wood,  all  on  the  same  plan.  The  two 
end  houses  have  each  a  shop  in  one  side.  All  the 
houses  are  parted  in  the  middle  by  an  entry  with  a 
staircase  ;  —  on  each  side  of  this  entry  is  a  "  suite  "  of 
rooms,  always  two.  In  no  case  did  I  find  any  family 
occupying  more  than  these  two  rooms.  Deducting  the 
shops,  then,  here  were  thirty  tenements,  —  each  of  two 
rooms,  —  and  these  were  occupied  by  thirty  families, 
of  which  the  smallest  was  a  man  and  his  wife,  —  the 
largest  a  man  and  his  wife  with  eight  children.  The 
population  was  sixty  adults  and  sixty-five  children  in 
the  sixty  rooms,  each  of  which  was  perhaps  twelve 
feet  square.  The  summer  atmosphere  of  these  places 
is  odious,  but  I  believe  it  is  better  than  the  winter 
atmosphere.  The  houses  have  the  great  advantage  of 
standing  separately  from  each  other,  so  as  to  admit  of 
end  windows,  and  ventilation  between  every  series 
of  four  tenements.  But  the  lots  are  so  small  that  all 
privy  arrangements  and  deposits  of  offal  are  horribly 
near  the  open  windows.  The  wretched  way  in  which 
a  woman  in  such  a  house  tells  you  that  her  baby  died 
yesterday,  as  if  the  child  died  of  course,  and  she  never 
ought  to  have  expected  that  it  would  live,  is  a  sad 
enough  intimation  that  the  tenants  themselves  know 
the  risk  they  are  running. 

I  have  not  cared  to  go  into  detail,  however.     My 


HOW   THEY   LIVE   IN   BOSTON.  177 

object  is  accomplished  in  calling  attention  to  the  single 
fact  that  of  these  eleven  deaths  in  Roxbury,  by  chol- 
era infimtum,  not  one  took  place  on  the  proper  upland. 
In  the  mortality  of  the  same  week  in  the  peninsula  of 
old  Boston,  out  of  thirty-eight  such  deaths,  none  took 
place  on  either  of  the  hills,  and  only  eight  on  land 
which  had  never  been  flowed  over  by  the  sea. 

In  the  epidemic  among  children  in  the  summer  of 
1864  one  thousand  children  of  less  than  five  years  of 
age  died  in  Boston  in  one  hundred  days.  I  suppose 
that  of  the  Boston  people  who  read  these  pages  not 
one  in  ten  knows  that  there  was  any  such  epidemic. 
It  did  not  rage  among  the  children  of  people  who  read 
Fields  and  Osgood's  books ;  it  raged  in  such  places  as  I 
have  been  describing. 

If  the  deaths  had  been  proportional  among  all  class- 
es of  society,  at  least  ten  of  these  deaths  would  have 
taken  away  infants  from  the  parish  of  which  I  am  a 
minister,  which  embraces  about  one  per  cent  of  the 
population  of  the  city. 

But  that  is  a  body  of  people  in  comfortable  circum- 
stances, living  in  comfortable  homes.  And,  in  fact,  in 
that  epidemic  not  one  of  our  children  died.  So  un- 
true is  that 

"  Pallida  mors  aequo  pulsat  pede  pauperum  tabernas  regumque 
turres."  * 

*  "  Pale  death  steps  on  with  equal  step  ;  although 
A  hut  or  palace  is  the  scene  of  woe." 

8*  L 


HOMES   FOE  BOSTON  LABORERS. 

In  addition  to  the  statement  I  have  made,  as  to  the 
houses  in  which  the  greater  part  of  the  laboring  men 
of  Boston  live  with  their  families  at  the  present  mo- 
ment, I  am  tempted  to  add  some  facts  as  to  the  details 
of  the  arrancrements  which  mio;ht  be  made  for  them. 
They  might  all  own  their  own  houses,  —  as  so  many 
of  the  laboring  men  do  in  our  smaller  cities,  —  and 
yet,  at  the  same  time,  follow  up  their  daily  work  in 
the  very  heart  of  Boston.  To  illustrate  this  possibility, 
I  have  published  here  the  ideal  sketch  of  the  life  of 
the  suburbs  of  Naguadavick.  To  show  some  of  the 
detail  in  practice,  I  have  published  the  historical  sketch 
of  Vineland  and  its  neighborhood.  The  object  of  this 
volume  is  not  fulfilled,  unless  it  shows  how  similar  ar- 
rangements may  be  carried  out  for  the  laboring  men 
of  Boston. 

I  know  very  well  that  many  persons  suppose  that 
such  arrangements  are  made  thoroughly  well  now. 
They  know  that  there  are  a  great  many  pretty  villages 
around  Boston,  from  which  crowded  special  trains  run 
in  every  morning,  and  to  which  they  return  at  night. 
And  people  who  -  will  read  this  book  will  be  apt  to 


HOMES   FOR   BOSTON   LABORERS.  179 

say  that  anj'body  who  wants  to  live  in  Melrose  or 
Newton  or  Hyde  Park  now  can  do  so ;  that  there 
needs  no  urging  either  of  capitalist  or  of  laborer; 
that  the  residence  of  laboring  men  in  the  suburbs  is  a 
thing  which  will  settle  itself,  and  may  be  left  to  settle 
itself. 

I  am  to  reply,  then,  to  this  comfortable  laissez  faire 
notion  first  of  all.  I  have  to  say,  that,  as  matter  of  fact, 
it  is  not  true  that  what  we  call,  popularly,  the  labor- 
ing men  and  women  of  Boston  live  in  any  consider- 
able numbers  in  the  suburbs  reached  by  railway. 
Many  of  them  live  in  Charlestown,  Roxbury,  and 
South  Boston,  where  they  can  use  the  short  lines  of 
street  cars  to  go  to  their  morning  work.  But  this  num- 
ber, even,  is  inconsiderable,  compared  with  the  large 
number  of  day-laborers  needed  for  the  day's  work  of 
the  city.  Of  the  classes  of  skilled  workmen,  of  whom 
we  do  not  speak  as  day-laborers,  a  considerable  pro- 
portion live  in  the  suburbs  accessible  by  steam,  —  the 
places  where  they  can  obtain  freehold.  Mechanics, 
clerks  in  retail  or  wholesale  stores,  bankers'  clerks, 
and  other  persons  whose  incomes  are  a  little  above  the 
wages  of  the  day-laborer,  so  called,  avail  themselves 
freely  of  the  relief  which  even  in  their  present 
management  the  steam  railroads  give,  and  bring  up 
their  children  thus,  —  where  only,  perhaps,  children 
should  be  brought  up,  —  in  the  country.  But  the  num- 
ber even  of  these  who  are  thus  provided  for  is  much 
smaller  than  could  be  wished :  and  the  arrangements 


180  SYBARIS  AND   OTHER  HOMES. 

in  many  regards  are  cumbrous  and  inconvenient. 
Granting,  however,  that  they  can  take  care  of  thenv- 
selves,  there  is  left  the  much  larger  class  of  women 
who  work  in  shops  or  stores,  and  the  class,  yet  larger, 
of  men  who  work  as  porters,  or  stevedores,  or  as  hod- 
carriers,  or  at  other  hard  labor  in  building  or  in  fac- 
tories, —  who  live,  as  they  suppose  from  necessity,  in 
such  hired  tenements  as  have  been  described.  They 
no  more  think  of  the  possibility  of  their  purchasing 
their  own  homes  than  they  think  of  ti'anslating  the 
Hebrew  Bible.  Of  one  hundred  and  thirty  sewing- 
women  engaged  at  Jordan  and  Marsh's  sewing-rooms, 
September  7,  1869,  ninety-three  lived  in  Boston 
proper,  twenty-three  in  South  Boston  and  East  Bos- 
ton, and  only  fourteen  out  of  town.  Of  eighty-two 
the  same  day  at  work  at  Hovey  &  Co.'s,  forty-five 
lived  in  Boston  proper,  twenty-seven  in  South  Bos- 
ton and  East  Boston,  and  only  ten  out  of  town. 

I  have  to  say,  next,  that  emigration,  though  it  be  only 
emigration  for  ten  miles,  has,  in  fact,  never  thriven  in 
this  world,  unless  it  has  been  well  led.  Unless,  at  one 
or  another  period  of  the  emigration,  the  way  has  been 
smoothed  and  prepared  by  men  of  intelligence,  and  by 
the  union  of  the  several  interests  engaged,  no  emigra- 
tion has  ever  gone  forward  prosperously.  The  people 
of  this  country  are  utterly  indifferent  to  what  they 
owe  to  the  men  who  contrived  the  magnificent  system 
of  the  Land  Laws  of  the  United  States,  which  of 
themselves   give    exactly    the    encouragement   to  the 


HOMES   FOR  BOSTON   LABORERS.  181 

"Western  emio;rant  that  I  would  secure  for  the  emi- 
grant  whom  I  would  lead  from  Lucas  Street  into  Dor- 
chester to-day.  And,  for  an  instance  on  the  other 
side,  the  reason  that  the  South,  eager  for  emigration 
to-day,  cannot  lure  the  laboring  men  it  needs  into  its 
waste  fields  by  all  its  magnificent  promises,  is  because 
no  set  of  men  care  enough  for  that  wave  of  civilization 
to  put  themselves  humanely  and  dehberately  at  work, 
on  a  large  scale,  for  the  organization  of  emigration 
southward. 

In  the  old  communities  of  Greece  this  thing  was 
better  understood.  To  lead  a  colony,  and  thus  to  es- 
tablish a  state,  was  considered  by  Miltiades,  and  The- 
mistocles,  and  Alcibiades,  and  Lysias,  and  Isocrates,  — 
not  to  name  a  hundred  others,  —  as  being  an  honor  as 
great  as  man  could  claim.  I  wish  there  were  more 
of  such  ambition  among  the  young  men  of  spirit,  of 
fortune,  or  of  education,  whom  I  meet  every  day, 
wondering  and  even  asking;  what  America  has  for 
them  to  do,  now  that  the  war  is  over.  I  remember 
that  Lord  Bacon  classed  the  founders  of  cities  among 
the  first  of  men. 

As  the  people  of  Naguadavick  found,  —  in  the  ex- 
perience of  their  history  contained  in  this  volume,  — 
the  enterprise  of  establishing  a  "  suburb  of  ease  "  for 
laboring  men  near  a  great  city  requires  the  co-opera- 
tion of  thi'ee  sets  of  people,  who  are  wholly  unused 
to  act  together.  It  requires  the  co-operation  of  the 
owner  of  land,  of  the  managers  of  the  railway,  and 


182         SYBARIS  AND  OTHER  HOMES. 

of  the  settlers  who  are  to  buy  their  homes.  Neither 
of  these  will  move,  if  he  have  not  confidence  in  the 
other. 

1.  The  owner  of  the  land  must  be  willing  to  de- 
vote  from  six  hundred  to  a  thousand  acres  within  half 
an  hour's  ride  by  steam  of  the  city  to  the  enterprise. 
He  must  look  for  sure  but  not  exorbitant  profits,  to 
be  secured  within  ten  years. 

2.  The  railroad  managers  must  look  to  the  grow- 
ing up  of  traffic  where  at  beginning  there  is  absolutely 
nothing ;  and,  because  that  traffic  is-  to  be  all  their 
own,  they  must  at  the  outset  provide  for  it  much 
more  accommodation  than  its  present  returns  will  war- 
rant. It  is  at  this  point,  as  I  believe,  that  most  such 
plans  break  down.  The  companies  are  willing  to  sell 
their  tickets  cheap  enough,  but  they  are  not  willing  to 
run  their  trains  at  the  outset  often  enough  or  fast 
enough.  They  want  the  village  to  exist  before  they 
grant  the  trains.  But  nobody  will  go  to  the  village 
until  they  grant  the  trains. 

3.  No  one  laboring  man  will  bell  the  cat  in  such 
an  enterprise.  No  one  will  go  alone,  —  nor  will  ten 
families  go  alone.  The  provisions  must  be  generous 
enough  to  induce  at  once  general  attention  among 
large  numbers  of  people,  or  they  will  none  of  them 
move.     The  reasons  for  their  hesitation  are  obvious. 

I  am  glad  to  believe  that  at  the  present  time  there 
are  good  reasons  for  expecting  the  frank  and  gen- 
erous co-operation  of  all  these  classes  in  the  neighbor- 


HOMES   FOU  BOSTON  LABOEERS.  183 

hood  of  Boston,  upon  the  true  principles  which  may 
insure  success.  The  questions  connected  with  such 
emigration  have  been  discussed  more  than  any  others 
at  the  meetings  of  the  Suffolk  Union  for  Christian 
Work.  They  never  came  up  for  discussion  there,  but 
some  intelligent  man,  who  had  watched  the  present 
difficulties,  brought  forward  some  important  contribu- 
tion towards  their  solution.  The  lines  of  railway  run- 
ning from  Boston  are  so  many,  and  pass  through  coun- 
try so  favorable  for  the  purposes  proposed,  that  every 
thoughtful  traveller  sees  the  possibility  of  relieving 
the  city  by  colonies  in  its  neighborhood.  Fortunately 
these  railways  are  in  the  management  of  men  who, 
in  general,  understand  that  their  interests  and  the  in- 
terests of  the  public  are  identical  in  these  matters. 
And  the  present  condition  of  the  worst  tenement- 
houses  in  Boston  is  such  as  to  compel  the  attention  of 
laboring  men  and  their  families  to  any  well-considered 
arrangements  for  their  relief.  Indeed,  if  the  trade 
and  manufacture  of  Boston  are  to  enlarge  in  the  next 
twenty  years  in  the  same  proportion  as  in  the  last 
twenty,  some  systematic  provision  of  healthy  homes 
for  her  laboring  men  and  women  is  the  very  first  ne- 
cessity of  all. 

I  have  attempted  in  this  volume  to  show  that  that 
provision  may  be  made  by  a  system  which  shall  in- 
volve the  following  details  :  — 

I.  A  village  site  of  say  a  thousand  acres. 

II.  This  must  be  generously  laid  out  by  the  pro- 


184  SYBARIS  AND   OTHER  HOMES. 

prietors,  who  must  maintain  on  the  spot  active  agents, 
to  care  for  the  proper  condition  of  the  town  till  it  can 
go  alone. 

1.  These  agents  must  keep  the  roads  in  condition. 

2.  They  must  see  that  drainage  is  systematically 
cared  for. 

3.  In  some  localities  it  may  be  necessary  that  the 
first  owners  sink  the  wells. 

4.  All  negotiations  with  the  railroads  must,  at  the 
outset,  be  made  by  the  first  owners. 

III.  The  land  should  be  divided,  for  our  purpose  near 
Boston,  into  lots  of  about  10,000,  20,000,  and  40,000 
feet,  to  provide  for  settlers  of  various  resources.  These 
lots  should  be  offered  for  sale  on  easy  terms,  with  great 
encouragement,  however,  for  cash  payments.  Mr. 
Landis  requires  one  fourth  down,  and  the  remainder 
in  three  payments  in  three  successive  years.  The 
Illinois  railroads  require  one  tenth  down,  and  the  re- 
mainder in  nine  payments  in  nine  successive  years. 
Probably  the  first  arrangement  is  the  better  for  our 
purpose  here. 

The  price  of  lots  having  been  fixed  at  the  outset,  so 
as  to  give  a  handsome  profit  to  the  original  landholder, 
should  never  be  changed  by  him. 

All  sales  should  be  made  on  condition  of  consider- 
able improvements  to  be  made  within  twelve  months. 
This  is  necessary  to  assure  the  first  settlers  of  neigh- 
bors and  society,  and  to  prevent  land  speculation. 

IV.  The  co-operation  of  the  original  holders  with 


HOMES   FOR   BOSTON   LABORERS'.  185 

the  settlers  in  all  enterprises  of  social  improvement, 
education,  and  amusement  must  be  heartily  and  in- 
telligently granted. 

•  V.  The  railroad  companies,  looking  to  the  steady 
growth  of  such  a  village,  must  provide  from  the  first, 
and  must  assure^  trains  of  cars  which  will  place  the 
laboring  man  at  his  work  in  Boston  at  seven  in  sum- 
mer and  at  eight  in  winter. 

It  has  been  proposed  by  Mr.  Quincy,  who  has  taken  so 
cordial  an  interest  in  such  plans,  that  most  of  these  com- 
panies, for  the  foundation  of  a  new  village  in  the  view 
here  advocated,  shall  give  a  free  ticket  for  five  years  to 
each  head  of  a  family  who  will  build  a  house  in  such 
a  town.  Then  rely  on  the  travel  of  the  members  of 
his  family,  and  of  other  persons,  for  their  profit.  This 
seems  to  me  honorable,  simple,  and  satisfactory.  I 
should  ask  nothing  more  in  addition  but  careful  study 
of  the  hours  of  trains  required  by  laboring  men,  and 
some  security  for  their  permanence. 

As  to  the  methods  by  which  such  men  are  to  get 
the  money  with  which  to  build  their  houses,  I  will 
add  a  few  words  ;  but  I  do  not  believe  the  difficulty 
in  the  business  will  be  found  there. 

Mr.  Quincy  has  published  in  the  daily  journals 
details  of  the  co-operative  house-building  systems  of 
Philadelphia  and  of  England,  which  have  worked  so 
satisfactorily  that  I  need  only  refer  readers  who  are 
interested  to  them.* 

*  See,  for  one  of  such  plans,  Appendix  A. 


186  SYBARIS   AND   OTHER  HOMES. 

I  am  assured  that  at  Hyde  Park,  near  Boston,  the 
public  offer  is  made  by  responsible  parties,  that  they 
will  lend  to  any  person  who  proposes  to  build  there 
three  thousand  dollars  for  that  purpose,  if  he  invest, 
beside,  three  hundred  dollars  of  his  own,  and  pledge 
the  whole  to  them.  They  are  so  confident  of  the  in- 
crease of  the  value  of  real  property  in  that  town,  that 
they  are  ready  to  lend  on  mortgage  of  real  estate, 
with  so  small  a  margin,  at  the  present  time.  This  js 
an  illustration  of  the  facilities  offered  in  such  places. 

In  the  German  savings-banks  there  is  a  system 
which  carries  out  with  great  simplicity  the  co-opera- 
tive idea.  The  managers  of  those  banks  discount 
regularly  to  their  depositors,  on  a  regulation  univer- 
sally understood.  It  is  this :  any  depositor  who  can 
get  two  fellow-depositors  to  indorse  for  him  can 
obtain  a  discount  from  the  savings-bank,  which  thus 
becomes,  not  a  bank  of  deposit  for  small  sums  only, 
but  a  bank  of  discount  for  small  sums.  In  the  town 
of  Worcester,  to  which  I  have  already  alluded  in  these 
pages,  its  prosperity  is  largely  due  to  the  readiness 
with  which  the  capitalists  of  the  town  have  assisted 
the  young  mechanics  and  laborers  in  establishing  them- 
selves. It  is  this  readiness  to  give  credit  on  fair  terms 
M'hich  has  done  so  much  to  make  that  a  place  of  Fkee- 

HOLD. 

The  details  of  the  German  system  are  given  by 
Mr.  Godkin  in  his  valuable  paper  published  in  the 
North  American  Review  two  years  ago. 


HOMES  FOR  BOSTON   LABORERS.  187 

I  apprehend,  therefore,  that  working  men  and  work- 
ing women  will  have  no  real  difficulty  in  building 
houses  for  themselves  or  in  buying  houses  ready  built, 
so  soon  as  the  places  are  arranged  where  these  houses 
shall  stand.  The  social  condition  might  return  of  the 
agricultural  New-England  town  of  two  generations 
ago,  in  which  a  rented  house  was  an  exception  to  the 
general  rule  and  habit  of  the  community.  The  large 
rents  which  laboring  men  are  now  accustomed  to  pay 
have  trained  their  families  in  habits  of  economy  which 
will  make  it  very  easy  for  them  to  obtain  dwellings  of 
their  own,  as  soon  as  these  dwellings  are  offered  to 
them.  For  the  cells  which  have  been  described  on 
page  171  the  weekly  rent  is  two  dollars  for  one 
room  and  the  two  dark  closets  adjoining.  This  is 
about  the  lowest  rent  which  any  laboring  man  with  a 
family  pays  for  a  home  in  Boston.  Most  of  them  pay 
more.  It  is  easy  to  see  how  fast  an  annual  payment  of 
only  one  hundred  and  four  dollars  a  year  will  eat  up  the 
principal  and  the  interest  of  such  a  home  as  such  a 
man  may  build  for  himself  the  moment  land  is  offered 
him  at  a  fair  price.  And  the  passion  for  Freehold 
is  not  extinguished  among  these  people  by  a  genera- 
tion or  more  of  tenant  life.  It  is  pleasant  to  conceive 
the  ready  response  they  would  make  to  a  programme 
like  this,  put  in  their  way  in  the  columns  of  their 
friends,  the  Boston  Herald  or  Boston  Pilot,  handed 
into  their  doors  on  a  broadside,  or  posted  at  the  street 
corners. 


BUY   YOURSELF  A   HOME! 


One  Hundred  neat  Houses  are  for  sale  in  the  new 
Village  of 

MONTGOMERY, 

ONLY    TWENTY    MINUTES'   RIDE    FROM   BOSTON ! 
By  a  weekly  payment  of 

ONLY  THREE  DOLLARS, 

any  man  may  own,  in  six  years'  time,  a  pretty 
House  and  a  Garden 

x=L  e;  KT  T    ETL  e; 


]i^^  Large  deductions  can  be  made  to  purchasers 
who  have  cash  in  hand. 


Free  Railroad  Ticket   for  Five  Tears ! 


HOMES   FOR   BOSTON    LABORERS.  189 

An  announcement  like  this  would  show  very  soon 
that  the  laboring  class  of  people  are  not  without  re- 
served funds  to  draw  upon,  if  they  have  only  a  simple 
and  safe  way  to  place  them  in  real  estate  for  their  own 
uses. 


APPENDIX. 


APPENDIX. 


A. 

The  Constitution  of  a  Co-operative  Society  for  Build- 
ing, which  has  worked  well  in  Philadelphia,  is  explained  in 
the  following  letters  from  Mr.  Quiucy  and  Mr.  Davis. 

MODERATE  HOUSES  FOR  MODERATE  MEANS. 

I  would  now  call  your  attention  to  a  communication 
sent  to  me  by  Edward  M.  Davis,  of  Philadelphia,  describ- 
ing the  woi'kings  of  an  association  of  which  he  is  president, 
calculated  to  aid  the  frugal  and  industrious  in  securing 
homes  now  payable  out  of  future  earnings  :  — 

It  is  called  a  Building  Association,  but  should  be  called  a 
"  Co-operative  Deposit  and  Loan  Company,"  as  it  does  not  have 
homes  built,  but  does  receive  and  loan  money. 

There  are  74  members  and  1,000  shares.  None  of  the  officers 
receive  pay,  except  the  secretary,  and  he  only  $  2  a  month. 
The  treasurer  gives  bonds  for  $  1,000,  but  seldom  has  over  %  50 
to  $  100  on  hand,  as  the  money  is  generally  loaned  the  same 
night  it  is  paid  in  to  the  association.  We  meet  in  a  school- 
bouse  and  have  no  rent  to  pay.  Fuel  and  a  janitor  costs  us 
about  $  15  a  year.  It  is  conducted  for  the  benefit  of  the  mem- 
bers, and  not  for  the  benefit  of  the  officers,  as  is  the  case  with 
many  loan  associations. 
■     The  receipts  of  the  association  are  :  — 

1st.  "  Dues"  of  members,  consisting  of  fifty  cents  a  share,  pay- 
able monthly. 

9  H 


194  APPENDIX. 

2d.  Fines  of  five  cents  a  share  eacli  month  as  penalty  for  fail- 
ure to  pay  punctually. 

3d.  Premiums  on  money  loaned  paid  by  members  who  borrow. 

4tli.  Interest  received  monthly  at  the  rate  of  six  per  cent 
per  annmn  on  money  loaned.  When  from  these  sources  the 
shares  are  worth  $  100  each,  a  distribution  is  made  in  the  pro- 
portion in  which  the  stock  is  held,  and  the  association  comes  to 
an  end. 

Only  members  can  borrow  money.  Each  one  can  borrow 
$  100  for  each  and  every  share,  but  not  over  $  1,500  at  one  time. 
The  borrower  must  give  to  the  association  as  secm-ity  a  first 
mortgage  on  real  estate  for  the  amount  borrowed,  and  if  there 
are  buildings,  they  must  be  insured  and  the  policy  transferred 
to  the  association.  The  borrower  must  also  transfer  the  stock 
on  which  he  borrows  ;  must  pay  the  premium  cash ;  pay  his 
dues  and  interest  punctually,  and  all  expenses  of  conveyancing. 

Our  association  was  started  twenty-two  months  since.  As 
fifty  cents  each  month  has  been  paid  on  each  share,  the  amount 
paid  m  is  $  11,  but  the  shares  are  worth  S  14.10  ;  the  difference 
has  been  made  out  of  premium,  interest,  and  fines.  Judging 
from  the  operations  of  other  similar  associations,  by  the  time 
S  60  has  been  paid  in  by  members  as  "  monthly  dues,"  the  shares 
will  be  worth  $  1 00  each ;  that  is,  the  association  will  hold  claims 
on  the  real  estate  of  the  members,  and  cash  on  hand,  amount- 
ing to  $  100,000. 

The  loans  are  made  by  the  president,  stating  that  there  are 
say  $500  in  the  treasury,  but  that  he  will  sell  $  1,500  if  it  is 
wanted,  payable  out  of  the  first  money  in  the  treasury.  Some  one 
is  willing  to  pay  five  per  cent  premium  for  it,  another  eight  per 
cent,  others  more,  and  so  on  until  it  reaches  say  twenty  per  cent. 
The  buyer  has  fifteen  shares,  and  says  he  will  take  the  $  1,500. 
He  gives  security  for  $  1,500,  and  pays  interest  monthly  on  the 
$  1,500,  but  the  premium  of  S  300  is  deducted  and  he  gets  only 
%  1,200  in  money.     His  monthly  dues  are  $  7.50  and  his  inter- 


APPENDIX.  195 

est  $  7.50.  He  therefore  pays  S  15  a  month  until  the  shares  are 
worth  on  the  books  S  100;  then  his  mortgage  is  handed  back, 
marked  paid,  his  policy  retransferred,  and  his  home  is  clear.  This 
occurs  at  the  same  time  necessarily  with  every  borrower,  for  it  is 
not  regulated  by  what  he  pays  for  his  money,  or  when  he  gets  it, 
but  bj-  the  period  when  the  shares  amount  to  %  100.  When  they 
do  all  the  borrowers  are  out  of  debt.  If  there  is  cash  on  hand 
it  belongs  to  those  who  have  not  borrowed,  and  will  be  just  $  100 
a  share  for  them. 

The  time  that  it  takes  for  a  society  to  "  run  out,"  as  it  is  called, 
depends  mainly  on  the  premiums  paid.  If  they  are  low  the  pe- 
riod is  over  ten  years.  If  they  could  average  twenty  per  cent 
the  period  would  be  much  shorter.  Money  borrowed  in  the  first 
year  of  the  association  at  twenty-five  per  cent  premium  does 
not  cost  the  borrower  quite  eight  per  cent  per  annum.  Then 
he  has  these  great  advantages ;  he  can  borrow  an  amount  al- 
most equal  to  the  cost  of  liis  property ;  can  return  it  in  smaU. 
sums,  and  in  addition  participate  in  the  profits  made  by  the 
association.  It  is  the  true  mode  of  getting  a  home  out  oi  future 
earnings.  Being  the  prospective  owner  of  the  place  occupied, 
all  the  improvements  inure  to  him.  This  system  makes  our 
small  houses  more  tastily  and  insures  their  being  kept  in  better 
order,  because  a  home  that  is  owned  is  more  cared  for  than  one 
that  is  rented.  I  tliink  that  what  are  called  building  associa- 
tions contribute  much  more  towards  securing  homes  to  our  me- 
chanics and  laboring  people  than  our  ground-rent  system. 

A  person  paying  $  15  a  month  by  this  system  at  the  end  of 
about  ten  years  has  his  house  clear,  but  if  he  pays  the  S  15  as 
rent,  at  the  end  of  the  ten  years  the  landlord  has  the  rent  and 
the  house  too. 

To  carry  out  a  plan  like  this  it  is  necessary  at  first  that 
some  philanthropic  persons  in  whom  the  people  have  con- 
fidence should,  like  Mr.  Davis,  be  willing  gratuitously  to 


196  APPENDIX. 

devote  a  few  hours  every  month  to  the  management  of  such 
an  organization.  As  in  the  case  of  savings-banks,  the  suc- 
cess of  one  might  lead  to  results  in  the  highest  degree  ben- 
eficial both  to  the  public  and  individuals. 

JOSIAH  QUINCY. 


B. 

LAW  FOR  REGULATION   OF   TENEMENT-HOUSES. 

When  the  sketch  of  Life  in  Boston  was  published  in  the 
Boston  Advertiser,  I  was  sorry  to  find  that  some  of  the  readers 
supposed  the  allusion  to  the  Tenement  Law  was  ironical ;  and 
that  I  only  suggested  what  law  there  should  be. 

Our  Tenement  Law  is  very  well  drawn  up,  based  on  the  Law 
of  the  State  of  New  York,  which  was  suggested  by  the  experi- 
ence of  the  Board  of  Health  of  the  city  of  New  York.  In  the 
hope  that  it  may  be  of  use  to  persons  interested  in  this  subject 
in  other  cities,  I  copy  it  in  fuU  here. 

[Chap.  281.] 
An  Act  for  the  regulation  of  Tenement  and  Lodging  Houses 
in  the  City  of  Boston. 

Be  it  enacted,  etc.,  as  follows:  — 

Section  1.  From  and  after  the  first  day  of  July,  in  the 
year  eighteen  hundred  and  sixty-eight,  no  house,  building, 
or  portion  thereof,  in  the  City  of  Boston,  then  used,  occu- 
pied, leased,  or  rented  for  a  tenement  or  lodging  house, 
shall  continue  to  be  so  used,  occupied,  leased,  or  rented,  un- 
less the  same,  on  the  requisition  of  the  Board  of  Health, 
shall  conform  in  its  construction  and  appurtenances  to  the 
provisions  of  this  act. 


APPE^TDIX.  197 

Sect.  2.  Every  house,  building,  or  portion  thereof,  in  the 
City  of  Boston,  designed  to  be  used,  occupied,  leased,  or 
rented,  or  which  is  used,  occupied,  leased,  or  rented  for  a 
tenement  or  lodging  house,  shall  have  in  every  room  which 
is  occupied  as  a  sleeping-room,  and  which  does  not  commu- 
nicate directly  with  the  external  air,  a  ventilating  or  tran- 
som window,  having  an  opening  or  area  of  three  square 
feet,  over  the  door  leading  into  and  connected  with  the  ad- 
joining room,  if  such  adjoining  room  communicates  with  the 
external  air  ;  and  also  a  ventilating  or  transom  window,  of 
the  same  opening  or  area,  communicating  with  the  entry 
or  hall  of  the  house,  or  where  this  is,  from  the  relative 
situations  of  the  rooms,  impracticable,  such  last-mentioned 
ventilating  or  transom  window  shall  communicate  with  an 
adjoining  room  that  itself  communicates  with  the  entry  or 
hall.  Every  such  house  or  building  shall  have  in  the  roof, 
at  the  top  of  the  hall,  an  adequate  and  proper  ventilator, 
of  a  form  approved  by  the  Board  of  Health  or  the  super- 
intendent. 

Sect.  3.  Every  such  house  shall  he  provided  with  a  proper 
Jire-escape,  or  means  of  escape  in  case  ofjire,  to  he  approved 
hy  the'SV2)erintendent  of  the  Board  of  Health. 

Sect.  4.  The  roof  of  every  such  house  shall  be  kept  in 
good  repair  and  so  as  not  to  leak,  and  all  rain-water  shall 
be  so  drained  or  conveyed  therefrom  as  to  prevent  its  drip- 
ping on  the  ground  or  causing  dampness  in  the  walls,  yard, 
or  area.  All  stairs  shall  be  provided  with  proper  balusters 
or  railings,  and  shall  be  kept  in  good  repair. 

Sect.  5.  Every  such  building  shall  be  provided  with 
good  and  sufficient  water-closets  or  privies,  of  a-  construction 
approved  by  the  Board  of  Health,  and  shall  have  proper 


198  APPENDIX. 

doors,  traps,  soil-pans,  and  other  suitable  works  and  arrange- 
ments so  far  as  may  be  necessary  to  insure  the  efficient 
operation  thereof.  Such  water-closets  or  privies  shall  not 
be  less  in  number  than  one  to  every  twenty  occupants  of 
said  house  ;  but  water-closets  and  privies  may  be  used  in 
common  by  the  occupants  of  any  two  or  more  houses  :  pro- 
vided, the  access  is  convenient  and  direct;  and  provided, 
the  number  of  occupants  in  the  houses  for  which  they  are 
provided  shall  not  exceed  the  proportion  above  required  for 
.  every  privy  or  water-closet.  Every  such  house  situated 
upon  a  lot  on  a  street  in  which  there  is  a  sewer,  shall  have 
the  water-closets  or  privies  furnished  with  a  proper  connec- 
tion with  the  sewer,  which  connection  shall  be  in  all  its 
parts  adequate  for  the  purpose,  so  as  to  permit  entirely 
and  freely  to  pass  whatever  enters  the  same.  Such  con- 
nection with  the  sewer  shall  be  of  a  form  approved  by  the 
Board  of  Health  or  superintendent;  and  all  such  water-closets 
and  vaults  shall  be  provided  with  the  proper  ti'aps,  and  con- 
nected with  the  house-sewer  by  a  proper  tight  pipe,  and 
shall  be  provided  with  sufficient  water  and  other  proper 
means  of  flushing  the  same ;  and  every  owner,  lessee,  and 
occupant  shall  take  due  measures  to  prevent  imprope?  sub- 
stances from  entering  such  water-closets  or  privies  or  their 
connections,  and  to  secure  the  prompt  removal  of  any  im- 
pro])er  substances  that  may  enter  them,  so  that  no  accu- 
mulation shall  take  place,  and  so  as  to  prevent  any  exhala- 
tions therefrom,  offensive,  dangerous,  or  pi'ejudicial  to  life  or 
health,  and  so  as  to  prevent  the  same  from  being  or  becom- 
ing obstructed.  No  cesspool  shall  be  allowed  in  or  under  or 
connected  with  any  such  house,  except  when  it  is  unavoidable, 
and  in  such  case  it  shall  be  constructed  in  such  situation  and 


APPENDIX.  199 

in  such  manner  as  the  Board  of  Health  or  superintendent  may 
direct.  It  shall  in  all  cases  be  water-tight,  and  arched  or  se- 
curely covered  over,  and  no  offensive  smell  or  gases  shall  be 
allowed  to  escape  therefrom,  or  from  any  privy  or  privy  vault. 
In  all  cases  where  a  sewer  exists  in  the  street  upon  which  the 
house  or  building  stands,  the  yard  or  area  shall  be  so  con- 
nected with  the  same  that  all  water,  from  the  roof  or  other- 
wise, and  all  liquid  filth  shall  pass  freely  into  it.  Where 
no  sewer  exists  in  the  street,  the  yard  or  area  shall  be  so 
graded  that  all  water,  from  the  roof  or  otherwise,  and  all 
filth  shall  flow  freely  from  it  and  all  parts  of  it  into  the 
street  gutter,  by  a  passage  beneath  the  sidewalk,  which  shall 
be  covered  by  a  permanent  cover,  but  so  arranged  as  to 
permit  access  to  remove  obstructions  or  impurities. 

Sect.  6.  From  and  after  the  first  day  of  July,  in  the 
year  eighteen  hundred  and  sixty-eight,  it  shall  not  be  law- 
ful, without  a  permit  from  the  Board  of  Health  or  superin- 
tendent, to  let  or  occupy  or  suffer  to  be  occupied  separately 
as  a  dwelling,  any  vault,  cellar,  or  underground  room,  built 
or  rebuilt  after  said  date,  or  which  shall  not  have  been  so 
let  or  occupied  before  said  date.  And  from  and  after  the 
first  day  of  July,  in  the  year  eighteen  hundred  and  sixty- 
nine,  it  shall  not  be  lawful,  without  such  permit,  to  let  or 
continue  to  be  let,  or  to  occupy  or  suffer  to  be  occupied, 
separately  as  a  dwelling,  any  vault,  cellar,  or  underground 
room  whatsoever,  unless  the  same  be  in  every  part  thereof 
at  least  seven  feet  in  height,  measured  from  the  floor  to 
the  ceiling  thereof,  nor  unless  the  same  be  for  at  least 
one  foot  of  its  height  above  the  surface  of  the  street  or 
ground  adjoining  or  nearest  to  the  same,  nor  unless  there  be 
outside  of  and  adjoining  the  said  vault,  cellar,  or  room,  and 


200  APPENDIX. 

extending  along  the  entire  frontage  thereof,  and  upwards 
from  six  inches  below  the  level  of  the  floor  thereof  up  to 
the  surface  of  the  said  street  or  ground,  an  open  space  of  at 
least  two  feet  and  six  inches  wide  in  every  part,  nor  unless 
the  same  be  well  and  effectually  drained  by  means  of  a 
drain,  the  uppermost  part  of  which  is  one  foot  at  least  be- 
low the  level  of  the  floor  of  such  vault,  cellar,  or  room,  nor 
unless  there  is  a  clear  space  of  not  less  than  one  foot  below 
the  level  of  the  floor,  except  where  the  same  is  cemented, 
nor  unless  there  be  appurtenant  to  such  vault,  cellar,  or 
room  the  use  of  a  water-closet  or  privy,  kept  and  provided 
as  in  this  act  required,  nor  unless  the  same  have  an  external 
window-opening  of  at  least  nine  superficial  feet  clear  of  the 
sash-frame,  in  which  window-opening  there  shall  be  fitted  a 
frame  filled  in  with  glazed  sashes,  at  least  four  and  a  half  su- 
perficial feet  of  which  shall  be  made  so  as  to  open  for  the 
purpose  of  ventilation  :  provided,  however,  that  in  case  of  an 
inner  or  back  vault,  cellar,  or  room,  let  or  occupied  along 
with  a  front  vault,  cellar,  or  room  as  part  of  the  same  letting 
or  occupation,  it  shall  be  a  sufiicient  compliance  with  the 
provisions  of  this  act,  if  the  front  room  is  provided  with  a 
window  as  hereinbefore  provided,  and  if  the  said  back  vault, 
cellar,  or  room  is  connected  with  the  front  vault,  cellar,  or 
room  by  a  door,  and  also  by  a  proper  ventilating  or  tran- 
som window,  and  where  practicable,  also  connected  by  a 
proper  ventilating  or  transom  window,  or  by  some  hall  or  pas- 
sage, or  with  the  external  air  :  provided,  always,  that  in  any 
area  adjoining  a  vault,  cellar,  or  underground  room,  there 
may  be  steps  necessary  for  access  to  such  vault,  cellar,  or 
room,  if  the  same  be  so  placed  as  not  to  be  over,  across,  or 
opposite  to  said  external  window,  and  so  as  to  allow  between 


APPEJ^DIX.  201 

every  part  of  such  steps  and  the  external  wall  of  such  vault, 
cellar,  or  room,  a  clear  space  of  six  inches  at  least,  and  if 
the  rise  of  said  steps  is  open  ;  and,  provided,  further,  that 
over  or  across  any  such  area  there  may  be  steps  necessary 
for  access  to  any  building  above  the  vault,  cellar,  or  room 
to  which  such  area  adjoins,  if  the  same  be  so  placed  as  not 
to  be  over,  across,  or  opposite  to  any  such  external  window. 

Sect.  7.  From  and  after  the  first  day  of  July,  in  the  year 
eighteen  hundred  and  sixty-eight,  no  vaidt,  cellar,  or  under- 
ground room  in  any  tenement  or  lodging  house  shall  be  occu- 
pied as  a  place  of  lodging  or  sleeping,  except  the  same  shall 
he  approved  in  writing,  and  a  permit  given  therefor  hy  the 
Board  of  Health  or  superintendent. 

Sect.  8.  Every  tenement  or  lodging  housi  shall  have  the 
proper  and  suitable  conveniences  or  receptacles  for  receiving 
garbage  and  other  refuse  matters.  No  tenement  or  lodging 
house,  or  any  portion  thereof,  shall  be  used  as  a  place  of  stor- 
age for  any  combustible  article,  or  any  article  dangerous  to 
life  or  detrimental  to  health  ;  nor  shall  any  horse,  cow,  calf, 
swine,  pig,  sheep,  or  goat  be  kept  in  said  house. 

Sect.  9.  Evei-y  tenement  or  lodging  house,  and  every  part 
thereof  shall  be  kept  clean  and  free  from  any  accumulation 
of  dirt,  filth,  garbage,  or  other  matter  in  or  on  the  same,  or  in 
the  yard,  court,  passage,  area,  or  alley  connected  tvith  or  be- 
longing to  the  same.  The  owner  or  keeper  of  any  lodging- 
house,  and  the  owner  or  lessee  of  any  tenement-house  or  part 
thereof  shall  thoroughly  cleanse  all  the  rooms,  passages, 
stairs,  floors,  windows,  doors,  avails,  ceilings,  privies,  cess- 
pools and  drains  thereof  of  the  house  or  part  of  the  house  of 
which  lie  is  the  owner  or  lessee,  to  the  satisfaction  of  the 
Board  of  Health,  so  often  as  shall  be  required  by  or  in  accord- 
10 


\ 

202  APPENDIX. 

ance  with  any  regulation  or  ordinance  of  said  city,  and  shall 
well  and  sufficiently,  to  the  satisfaction  of  said  Board,  white- 
wash the  walls  and  ceilings  thereof  twice  at  least  in  every 
year,  in  the  months  of  April  and  October,  imless  the  said 
Board  shall  otherwise  direct.  Every  tenement  or  lodging 
house  shall  have  legibly  posted  or  painted  on  the  wall  or  door 
in  the  entry,  or  some  public  accessible  place,  the  name  and  ad- 
dress of  the  owner  or  owners,  and  of  the  agent  or  agents,  or 
any  one  having  charge  of  the  renting  and  collecting  of  the 
rents  for  the  same  ;  and  service  of  any  papers  required  by 
this  act,  or  by  any  proceedings  to  enforce  any  of  its  provis- 
ions, or  of  the  acts  relating  to  the  Board  of  Health,  shall  be 
sufficient  if  made  upon  the  person  or  persons  so  designated 
as  owner  or  owfiers,  agent  or  agents. 

Sect.  10.  The  keeper  of  any  lodging-house  and  the  owner, 
agent  of  the  oivner,  lessee,  and  occupant  of  any  tenement- 
house,  and  every  other  person  having  the  care  or  management 
thereof,  shall  at  all  times,  when  required  by  any  officer  of  the 
Board  of  Health,  or  by  any  officer  upon  whom  any  duty  or  au- 
thority is  conferred  by  this  act,  give  him  free  access  to  such 
house  and  to  every  part  thereof.  The  owner  or  keeper  of 
any  lodging-house,  and  the  owner,  agent  of  the  owner,  and 
the  lessee  of  any  tenement-house  or  part  thereof  shall, 
whenever  any  person  in  such  house  is  sick  of  fever,  or  of 
any  infectious,  pestilential,  or  contagious  disease,  and  such 
sickness  is  known  to  such  owner,  keeper,  agent,  or  lessee, 
give  immediate  notice  thereof  to  the  Board  of  Health,  or  to 
some  officer  of  the  same,  and,  thereupon,  said  Board  shall 
cause  the  same  to  be  inspected,  and  may,  if  found  necessary, 
cause  the  same  to  be  immediately  cleansed  or  disinfected 
at  the  expense  of  the  owner,  in  such  manner  as  they  may 


APPENDIX.  203 

deem  necessary  and  effectual ;  and  they  may  also  cause  the 
bhinkets,  bedding,  and  bedclothes  used  by  any  such  sick 
j)erson,  to  be  thoroughly  cleansed,  scoured,  and  fumigated, 
and  in  extreme  cases  to  be  destroyed. 

Sect.  11.  Whenever  it  shall  be  certified  to  the  Board  of 
Health  by  the  superintendent  that  any  building  or  part 
thereof  is  unfit  for  human  habitation,  by  reason  of  its  being 
so  infected  with  disease  as  to  be  likely  to  cause  sickness 
among  the  occupants,  or  by  reason  of  its  want  of  repair  has 
become  dangerous  to  life,  said  Board  may  issue  an  order, 
and  cause  the  same  to  be  afiixed  conspicuously  on  the  build- 
ing or  part  thereof,  and  to  be  personally  served  upon  the 
owner,  agent,  or  lessee,  if  the  same  can  be  found  in  this 
State,  requiring  all  persons  therein  to  vacate  such  building, 
for  the  reasons  to  be  stated  therein  as  aforesaid.  Such 
building  or  part  thereof  shall,  within  ten  da^'S  thereafter,  be 
vacated  or  within  such  shorter  time,  not  less  than  twenty- 
four  hours,  as  in  said  notice  may  be  specified ;  but  said 
Board,  if  it  shall  become  satisfied  that  the  danger  from  said 
house  or  part  thereof  has  ceased  to  exist,  may  revoke  said 
order,  and  it  shall  thenceforward  become  inoperative. 

Sect.  12.  No  house  hereafter  erected  shall  be  used  as  a 
tenement-house  or  lodging-house,  and  no  house  heretofore 
erected,  and  not  now  used  for  such  purpose,  shall  be  con- 
verted into,  used  or  leased  for  a  tenement  or  lodging  house, 
unless,  in  addition  to  the  requirements  hereinbefore  con- 
tained, it  conforms  to  the  requirements  contained  in  the  fol- 
lowing sections. 

Sect.  13.  It  shall  not  be  lawful  hereafter  to  erect  for  or 
convert  to  the  purposes  of  a  tenement  or  lodging,  house  a 
building  on  the  front  of  any  lot  where  there  is  another  build- 


204  APPENDIX. 

ing  on  the  rear  of  the  same  lot,  unless  there  is  a  clear,  open 
space,  exclusively  belonging  to  the  front  building  and  ex- 
tending upwards  from  the  ground,  of  at  least  ten  feet,  be- 
tween said  buildings,  if  they  are  one  story  high,  above  the 
level  of  the  ground  ;  if  they  are  two  stories  high,  the  dis- 
tance between  them  shall  not  be  less  than  fifteen  feet ;  if 
they  are  three  stoi'ies  high,  the  distance  between  them  shall  be 
twenty  feet ;  and  if  they  are  more  than  three  stories  high,  the 
distance  between  them  shall  be  twenty-five  feet.  At  the  rear 
of  every  building  hereafter  erected  for  or  converted  to  the 
purposes  of  a  tenement  or  lodging  house  on  the  back  part 
of  any  lot,  there  shall  be  a  clear,  open  space  of  ten  feet  be- 
tween it  and  any  other  building.  But  when  thorough  ven- 
tilation of  such  open  spaces  can  be  otherwise  secured,  said 
distances  may  be  lessened  or  modified,  in  special  cases,  by 
a  permit  from  thp  Board  of  Health  or  the  superintendent. 

Sect.  14.  In  every  such  house  hereafter  erected  or  con- 
verted every  habitable  room,  except  rooms  in  the  attic, 
shall  be  in  every  part  not  less  than  eight  feet  in  jieight  fi'om 
the  floor  to  the  ceiling  ;  and  every  habitable  room  in  the 
attic  of  any  such  building  shall  be  at  least  eight  feet  in 
height  from  the  floor  to  the  ceiling,  throughout  not  less 
than  one  half  the  area  of  such  room.  Every  such  room 
.shall  have  at  least  one  window  connecting  with  the  external 
air,  or  over  the  door  a  suitable  ventilator,  connecting  it  with 
a  room  or  hall  which  has  a  connection  with  the  external 
air.  The  total  area  of  window  in  every  room  communicat- 
ing with  the  external  air,  shall  be  equal  to  at  least  one 
tenth  of  the  superficial  area  of  every  such  room ;  and  the 
top  of  one,  at  least,  of  such  windows  shall  not  be  less  than 
seven  feet  and  six  inches  above  the  floor,  and  the  upper 


APPENDIX.  205 

half  of  each  window  shall  be  so  made  as  to  open  for  the 
purposes  of  ventilation.  Every  habitable  room  of  a  less 
area  than  one  hundred  superficial  feet,  if  it  does  not  com- 
municate directly  with  the  external  air,  and  is  without  an 
open  fireplace,  shall  be  provided  with  special  means  of 
ventilation  by  a  separate  air-shaft  extending  to  the  roof,  or 
otherwise,  as  the  Board  of  Health  may  prescribe. 

Sect.  15.  Every  such  house  hereafter  erected  or  converted, 
shall  have  adequate  chimneys  running  through  every  jioor,  ivith 
an  open  fireplace  or  grate,  or  place  for  a  stove,  properly  con- 
nected with  one  of  said  chimneys,  for  every  family  and  set 
of  apartments.  It  shall  have  proper  conveniences  and  recep- 
tacles for  ashes  and  rubbish  ;  it  shall  have  tvater  furnished 
at  one  or  more  places  in  such  house,  or  in  the  yard  thereof, 
so  that  the  same  may  be  adequate  and  reasonably  convenient 
for  the  use  of  the  occupants  thereof  It  shall  have  the  floor 
of  the  cellar  properly  cemented,  so  as  to  be  water-tight.  TJie 
halls  on  each  floor  shall  open  directly  to  the  external  air,  with 
suitable  windows,  and  shall  have  no  room  or  other  obstruction 
at  the  end,  unless  sufficient  light  or  ventilation  is  otherivise 
provided  for  said  halls,  in  a  manner  approved  by  the  Board 
or  the  supei-intendent. 

Sect.  16.  Every  owner  or  other  person  violating  any 
provision  of  this  act,  after  the  same  shall  take  effect,  shall 
be  guilty  of  a  misdemeanor,  punishable  by  a  fine  not  exceed- 
ing one  hundred  dollars,  or  by  imprisonment  not  exceeding 
sixty  days. 

Sect.  17.-4  tenement-house  within  the  meaning  of  this 
act,  shall  be  taken  to  mean  and  include  every  house,  building, 
or  portion  thereof  which  is  rented,  leased,  let,  or  hired  out 
to  he  occupied,  or  is  occupied,  as  the  house  or  residence  of 


206  APPENDIX. 

more  than  three  families  living  independently  of  another,  and 
doing  their  cooking  upon  the  premises,  or  hy  more  than  two 
families  upon  a  floor,  so  living  and  cooking,  but  having  a 
common  right  in  the  halls,  stairways,  yards,  water-closets,  or 
privies,  or  some  of  them. 

A  lodging-house  shall  he  taken  to  mean  and  include  any 
house  or  huilding,  or  portion  thereof,  in  which  persons  are 
lodged  for  hire  for  a  single  night,  or  for  less  than  a  week  at 
one  time. 

A  cellar  shall  be  taken  to  mean  and  include  every  basement 
or  lower  story  of  any  building  or  house,  of  which  one  half 
or  more  of  the  height  from  the  floor  to  the  ceiling  is  below 
the  level  of  the  street  adjoining. 

Sect.  18.  The  Board  of  Health  shall  have  authority  to 
make  other  regulations  as  to  cellars  and  as  to  ventilation, 
consistent  with  the  foregoing,  where  it  shall  be  satisfied 
that  such  regulations  will  secure  equally  well  the  health  of 
the  occupants.  All  complaints  under  this  act  shall  be  made 
only  by  authority  of  the  Board  of  Health,  and  the  Munici- 
pal Court  of  the  City  of  Boston  shall  have  jurisdiction  con- 
current with  the  Superior  Court  of  all  offences  against  the 
provisions  of  this  act.     \_Approved  June  4,  1868. 


THE   END. 


Cambridge  :  Stereotyped  and  Printed  by  Welch,  SIgelow,  &  Ca 


